…as virus unleashes on Windhoek
Andrew Kathindi
COVID-19 has claimed another victim as the death toll rises. This brings the death toll to nine in the country as the virus continues to spiral upwards. There are concerns about government’s ability to clamp down on the trend.
“I am reporting a COVID-19 related death from Walvis Bay. A 44 year-old female presented to Walvis Bay State Hospital on 21st July 2020 with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. She had other chronic medical conditions. She was tested while on admission and the results came out positive. Her condition gradually deteriorated and we lost her on the 28th July 2020,” Health Minister Shangula Kalumbi announced.
This, as Khomas region has gradually become the region with the highest reported daily cases after Erongo, with eight new cases where reported in Windhoek on Wednesday 29 July, bringing the tally for Khomas region to 88.
The rising cases in Windhoek have not spared organizations, with Telecom Namibia on Wednesday becoming the latest case to have its operations disrupted, announcing that its Customer Care Center would be closed until further notice due to a positive case having been recorded amongst its staff.
A 24 year-old female staff member of Telecom showed symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and was tested on the 25th July 2020. She indicated that she did not have contact with a confirmed case but the person from the same household who is a contact of a confirmed case also tested positive.
Several other institutions namely, Unam, NUST, City Police, NBC, BIPA, MTC and Parliament have also recently closed down temporarily due to the confirmed cases.
NBC announced that its radio current affairs programmes, Update Namibia at 5pm, COVID-19 Television Live Update at 7pm, and Good morning Namibia at 6am to 8am would be off-air due to mandatory disinfection of NBC production areas.
Yesterday, Kalumbi raised concerns over rising virus transmissions locally in several areas across Namibia. Several of the cases reported in Windhoek today, including that of a 34 year-old male and a staff member at the local market, who had no known contact.
There are currently 1,986 reported cases in Namibia.
“Although the town of Walvis Bay remains the epi-centre of the pandemic at present, cases are increasing in other parts of the country. This is, and must be a source of concern for all Namibians. It calls for greater vigilance and personal responsibility of each and every Namibian to do our part to stop the spread of this disease in its tracks.”
