A breastfeeding woman of Walvis Bay who tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday finds herself in a tricky situation after she was advised to find someone to look after her children before she goes for quarantine.
The woman is obliged to go for 14 days in quarantine as part of the mandatory pandemic measure for all people who test positive for Covid-19.
Narrating her predicament this week through a telephonic interview, Lorraine Dausas* said she received a call from a social worker yesterday asking her to find a babysitter for her children, but who will now also have to go for quarantine.
“I got sick on Wednesday and tested on Thursday. My results came out on Sunday but today a social worker called and informed me that I will be picked up to go in isolation,” Dausas said yesterday.
Dausas said she then told the social worker that she has two children, a nine-month-old baby and a three-year-old.
“I was told to find a babysitter for my children. I am still breastfeeding my baby,” a distressed Dausas said yesterday.
Prior to her testing positive, Dausas was staying in a shack with several other people that also went for testing.
She says she cannot also ask them to look after her children due to their situation.
“I also moved to my boyfriend’s place with the kids seeing that he is not in town,” Dausas said.
She is now questioning how she can go into isolation without her kids having a caretaker. People are also sceptical to look after one’s kids due to the stigma attached to Covid-19,” she said.
Health minister Kalumbi Shangula yesterday responded to the matter, saying there are no special guidelines in terms of families but they treat each case on its own merit.
“We first have to look at the interest of the baby and how it is better served. To us the interest of the baby is paramount. That’s a small baby.”
*Not her real name
– edeklerk@nepc.com.na