Coronavirus: German stable after testing positive
20 March 2020 | Disasters
ELLANIE SMIT
A German national, who travelled from Germany to Amsterdam and then to Zimbabwe before entering Namibia on 13 March, is the third person to test positive for the coronavirus in Namibia.
The 61-year-old German man has been isolated “at a hospital”, health minister Kalumbi Shangula said at an urgently called media conference late yesterday afternoon.
The man, who is in a stable condition, had travelled from Germany to Amsterdam on 24 February, and then on to Zimbabwe on 4 March, before entering Namibia on 13 March.
The positive coronavirus result was received yesterday, shortly before Shangula’s media conference.
There are still no cases of local transmission in Namibia, the minister reiterated. The two other confirmed cases involved a Romanian couple who travelled to Namibia last Wednesday from Doha.
The ministry is actively following up on any contacts the German national may have had in Namibia to ensure proper quarantining and monitoring for symptoms.
Shangula said the government, together with its development partners and the private sector, was intensifying Namibia’s response and preparedness.
“The ministry received three ambulances, hospital beds, bed linen and other items donated by the US embassy. These will go towards the Covid-19 response.”
Ten ventilators bought by the government were due to arrive last night.
Health executive director Ben Nangombe further stressed that the ministry was not working in isolation, but that interaction with facilities was taking place on a daily basis to provide the correct information.
“We want to involve all Namibians. The fight is not our fight alone. President Hage Geingob declared the coronavirus a state of emergency. This is how serious it is.”
A German national, who travelled from Germany to Amsterdam and then to Zimbabwe before entering Namibia on 13 March, is the third person to test positive for the coronavirus in Namibia.
The 61-year-old German man has been isolated “at a hospital”, health minister Kalumbi Shangula said at an urgently called media conference late yesterday afternoon.
The man, who is in a stable condition, had travelled from Germany to Amsterdam on 24 February, and then on to Zimbabwe on 4 March, before entering Namibia on 13 March.
The positive coronavirus result was received yesterday, shortly before Shangula’s media conference.
There are still no cases of local transmission in Namibia, the minister reiterated. The two other confirmed cases involved a Romanian couple who travelled to Namibia last Wednesday from Doha.
The ministry is actively following up on any contacts the German national may have had in Namibia to ensure proper quarantining and monitoring for symptoms.
Shangula said the government, together with its development partners and the private sector, was intensifying Namibia’s response and preparedness.
“The ministry received three ambulances, hospital beds, bed linen and other items donated by the US embassy. These will go towards the Covid-19 response.”
Ten ventilators bought by the government were due to arrive last night.
Health executive director Ben Nangombe further stressed that the ministry was not working in isolation, but that interaction with facilities was taking place on a daily basis to provide the correct information.
“We want to involve all Namibians. The fight is not our fight alone. President Hage Geingob declared the coronavirus a state of emergency. This is how serious it is.”
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