Niël Terblanché
Despite the fact that Namibia along with the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a global health emergency, Namibians might still get infected with the latest evolution of the SARS-CoV2 virus.
In this regard, the Office of the Judiciary informed all employees, the legal fraternity as well as the public that precautionary measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 in the superior courts of Namibia will still be enforced.
According to an internal office memorandum, the recent increase in the number and in particular the percentage of positive cases in Namibia, necessitated the courts re-visiting the measures with the implementation of revised measures.
“The measures and protocols in combating the spread of Covid-19 applicable to the Supreme and High Courts of Namibia were established and implemented during 2020, 2021 and 2022 and will again become effective today,” the memorandum reads.
According to the memorandum, the implementation of precautionary measures has proven itself to be effective.
The memorandum stated that any person entering any court building must wear a mask, sanitise their hands and keep a social distance of at least 1.5 metres.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, recently warned Namibians that although the danger of the illness brought on by the virus has waned, infection still occurs and that immune-compromised individuals might still experience serious adverse effects from the disease.
“Namibia moved out of the health emergency status in July 2022 because of all the steps we took in concert with the international community but the danger of getting infected still remains,” he said.
Dr Shangula said that Namibians are still able to vaccinate against the virus to avoid serious illness and death.
“I also think it would be prudent for all Namibians to keep on with the practices we learned during the onset and the duration of the pandemic,” he said
The health minister said that measures such as the washing of hands, the wearing of masks and other sanitary practices helped Namibia to quickly bring the virus under control and that continuing with it, will keep people from getting infected with Covid-19 and other preventable diseases.
