Covid-19 – Page 16 – Windhoek Observer

03 Sep

Healthcare workers with COVID-19 on the rise

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19

Staff Writer The Ministry of Health has raised concern over increasing cases of healthcare workers contracting COVID-19. According to Ministry of Health data, 333 health care workers are currently infected with COVID-19. This comes as a healthcare worker from Swakopmund succumbed to the virus on Monday. Health minister, Kalumbi Shangula revealed Wednesday that healthcare workers now constitute 4.2 percent of the total COVID-19 confirmed cases recorded in the country since the outbreak. “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have recorded a total number of 333 health workers infected with COVID-19, which represents 4.2 percent of the total confirmed cases recorded…

03 Sep

CoW stalls decongestion plan

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, president Hage Geingob, Windhoek Mayor Fransina Kahungu

Andrew Kathindi The City of Windhoek has yet to take action on decongesting the informal areas of Windhoek amidst rising COVID-19 cases, nearly a month after President Hage Geingob gave the directive. Urban and Rural Development Ministry Executive Director (ED), Nghidinwa Daniel confirmed to Windhoek Observer last month that the ministry had given directives to the Windhoek local authority to implement the decongestion plan. Chairperson of the City management committee Moses Shiikwa had previously stated that implementation would likely take place at the end of August, as it would need to go through the channels, passing through the Committee before…

01 Sep

We have met the enemy and face defeat

ObserverNational NewsCovid-19

Namibia is waging the best fight it can against COVID-19. This is as good as it gets. But, death and infection rates are not going down. Perhaps, it is time to greatly reduce containment efforts and shift to prioritizing care for those who are symptomatic. The long-time substandard state of the public healthcare system has been exposed by this pandemic. Attempts to force citizens to set aside cultural norms and practice social distancing will not work. We are on the brink of economic collapse and cannot withstand any more restrictions. The spectre of hopelessness, mass unemployment, undernourishment, poor government service…

01 Sep

Govt rules out SOE bailout … as Air Namibia remains grounded

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Public Enterprises minister Leon Jooste

Staff Writer Public Enterprises minister Leon Jooste maintains that the government has no immediate plans to bailout any State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) despite a number that have been hard hit by the negative impacts of COVID-19. This comes as SOEs such as Air Namibia have already raised alarm bells. The national carrier already had an existing precarious financial position which was made worse by the pandemic. Jooste, however, said the government going forward maybe be forced to come to the aid of some SOEs if the negative effects of COVID-19 become prolonged. “We are monitoring the situation continuously and assessing…

29 Aug

Gvt suspends solidarity, wealth tax plans

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Solidarity Tax, sovereign wealth fund, wealth tax

Andrew Kathindi The solidarity wealth tax which was proposed over two years ago by then Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein has been dropped due to lack of support, the Agriculture, Water and Land Minister has revealed. In its place, a “proper” wealth tax was proposed before his change in portfolio; however that too was met with opposition and has since been put on the back burner due to COVID-19. Finance Ministry spokesperson Tonateni Shidhudhu said the wealth tax has been set aside to focus on other options. “The Wealth Tax and the Solidarity Tax were just ideas to augment the revenue…

28 Aug

Robert Mugabe Clinic is the weakest link

ObserverNational NewsCovid-19, Robert Mugabe Clinic

Employers sending their staff to be tested for COVID-19 may be unwittingly responsible for spreading it further. Anyone driving by the Robert Mugabe Clinic has seen the tightly packed lines of people waiting to be tested. Some are waiting for their COVID-19 results. There is no social spacing and most have their noses uncovered as they improperly wear masks. There are those who are there who have been called in to collect their written results. A few of those results are positive. Those who are positive are standing amongst those who are negative or those waiting for results. This is…

26 Aug

Tourism revival measures announced

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Forestry and Tourism, Immigration, Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Safety and Security

Staff Writer The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has announced protocols guiding the international tourism revival initiative which comes into effect next month. The initiative is a government plan aimed at providing a lifeline to the country’s tourism sector which is on the verge of collapse due to the closure of the borders as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. This announcement comes after two failed attempts by government to open the borders to international tourist arrivals due to increases in infection rates in different parts of the country. In addition, the working group of the…

21 Aug

Standard Bank relaunched the Buy-a-Brick Footprint

ObserverObserver MoneyBuy-a-Brick Footprint Socks, Covid-19, Namibia, Standard Bank, Standard Bank (SBN)

Staff Writer Standard Bank (SBN) has relaunched the Buy-a-Brick Footprint Socks campaign which is intended to raise funds for the construction of houses for Namibia’s shack dwelling community. The campaign was initially launched in March this year to mobilize schools in the nationwide effort to raise funds for the construction of low cost house but had to be suspended due to the Coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic. However, despite the prevalence of Covid-19, Standard Bank deemed it necessary to relaunch the campaign to shine light on the plight of the shack dwellers community by raising funds through the selling of the Footprint…

20 Aug

BoN forecast 7.8% domestic economy contraction

ObserverObserver MoneyBank of Namibia, BoN Governor Johannes !Gawaxab, Covid-19

Staff Writer Bank of Namibia (BoN) has forecasted the domestic economy to contract by 7.8 percent in 2020 before a moderate recovery of 2.1 percent in 2021. “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused domestic economic activity to contract severely during the first six months of 2020. The slump was reflected in sectors such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, tourism, wholesale and retail trade as well as transport and storage. Activity in the telecommunication and local electricity generation subsectors, however, showed some improvements in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019,” BoN Governor Johannes !Gawaxab announced on…

20 Aug

Education Ministry consults on next step . . . As ED rules out full e-learning

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, education executive director Sanet Steenkamp, Ministry of Education Arts and Culture

Andrew Kathindi After several failed attempts to restart the school year for all levels, the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture has begun consulting schools and unions on the way forward ahead of all grades reopening on 31 August 2020. This comes as the Ministry has posed several questions to schools, unions, parents, community members and stakeholders in a survey as part of an attempt to get a better understanding of where everyone stands regarding the issue of school re-openings. “We looked at what happens after August 31 in terms of school resumption for face-to-face learning. What is it that…