The resumption of parliament, which was scheduled for today, has been postponed indefinitely due to the increasing number of people testing positive for the Covid-19 virus in the country.
National Assembly (NA) spokesperson David Nahongandja said the move was also necessitated by the fact that a majority of the members of parliament (MPs) have to travel from all corners of the country, which may contribute to further spread of the virus.
“The NA wishes to encourage all Namibians to continue adhering to the Covid-19 regulations and increase our collective efforts to curb the spread of the virus,” Nahongandja said in a statement last Friday.
Meanwhile, the deadly and fast spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus was on Monday confirmed to have reached Namibia. The variant was detected in 17 out of 18 samples analysed by the University of Namibia (Unam) as tasked by the health ministry.
As of 3 July 2021, the Delta variant has been detected in at least 98 countries around the world and is quickly becoming the dominant strain in many countries.
Genomic data and epidemiological studies suggest Delta may be significantly more transmissible than other variants and it could be approximately twice as transmissible as the earlier variant of concern viruses.
The country’s third wave of infections has been deadly.
According to the latest figures on Tuesday, Namibia has 25 303 active cases.
So far, the country has lost 1 690 people to Covid-19. Of those, 726 died in June alone. Only 26 325 people have been fully vaccinated in the country, while 124 586 have received the first dose.