…. as NCS expects more quarantine subjects
Staff Writer
A Katutura family has been tested for Covid-19 by Health ministry officials after it came into contact with case 32 when she travelled from her Walvis Bay base to Windhoek prior to her testing positive for the virus.
The development comes after it emerged that permit holders from the Erongo have been able to leave the region without being tested for Covid-19 since stage 1 lockdown was imposed by government.
Information gathered by the Windhoek Observer shows that health officials conducted the tests on Monday in Katutura Central , a development confirmed by Health ministry Executive Director, Ben Nangombe.
“The family has been tested and we have received the results. We will announce them tomorrow,” he said, refusing to shed further details on the tests results.
The positive test results of cases 32 and 34 have created headaches for the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS), where the two are employed as Officers at the Walvis Bay Prison. About 15 Prison Officers have been placed in quarantine after coming into contact with case 32.
“Contact tracing has been done on those identified as primary contacts and they’ll be placed into quarantine. We cannot shut down the whole prison because that is a big facility with more than 280 people. Most sections are in the building far removed from where case 32 was, so there’s no reason to shut it down,” Nangombe.
Namibian Correctional Service (NCS) Commissioner General, Raphael Hamunyela, however, said the likelihood of more officers being placed under quarantine is high considering contact tracing for case 34 was still being carried out, a move which could impact on the prisons operations.
“For case number 32 it was already done and those people were placed under quarantine. Regarding today’s case (Tuesday), the contact tracing is being done to see who they have been in contact with.
“The difficulty we are having now is that less than a quarter of officers who live on the premises. The one officer (case 32) who was found to be positive does not live on the premises; Case 32 stays in Kuisebmund location. But the one from today (cases 34) stays on the premises. So now the likelihood of most of the officers who are on the premises to be taken into quarantine is very high. Who will be left to guard and control the offenders? It’s a problem. The dilemma is there,” he said.
Asked if the NCS will consider a lockdown of the prison facility until the exact number of infections at the facility is confirmed, Hamunyela said such a move will prove difficult.
“You can’t put it on lockdown because services have to be delivered to the offenders. It’s best if we test everybody, maybe that’s when we can say the ones that test negative, can be allowed to come to work, but currently it’s difficult to determine who should be there and who shouldn’t. Except those who are the primary contact or secondary contacts, you can reduce those ones. But we’re not sure if it’s only them who are potentially positive. We are only waiting to see if the Ministry of Health can test everybody, it will be better,” he said.
Hamunyela said he was concerned about the emergence of possible cases of local transmission in Walvis Bay.
“That is the concern of everyone. It’s the reason why Walvis Bay was placed under lockdown. When the President called for the lockdown of Walvis Bay, it’s because of this concern. The likelihood that many people in Walvis Bay already have the virus or have been exposed to it could be significant, no one knows. The only one who can assist us is the Ministry of Health by testing more people,” he said.
As of Tuesday, Namibia’s COVID 19 positive cases were at 34. There are 16 being active cases, 18 recoveries and 5,919 tests have been conducted to date.
