Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
# INFECTED: 196
# ACTIVE: 172
# DECEASED: 0
# RECOVERED: 24
# TESTED: 8,913
The government of Namibia is insisting for the time being that during stage 4 of the corona restrictions, each person entering the country must be quarantined for 14 days. This is clear from the text of President Hage Geingob’s regulation, gazetted today. The travel industry had tried in talks with the government until end of last week to exclude the quarantine arrangement. Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula apparently still has the final say.
Hope for derogation
This week, talks of delegates of the travel industry and the government are to determine details of the modalities for the Tourism Revival Initiative. From 15 July to 15 August a limited number of tourists from selected countries is to be allowed to enter the country. However, according to the text of the regulation for stage 4, the 14-day quarantine also applies to them. Some industry representatives were cautiously optimistic that they could still get an derogation.
For quarantine, accommodations such as those of the state rest camp operator Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) are available. Everyone effected bears the costs themselves.
With rapid tests against quarantine
Meanwhile, Frankfurt Airport has opened a Corona rapid test center. More and more countries would waive the required quarantine if a person presents a negative test result, it said. Test results within two hours cost 139 Euros, results within six hours cost only 59 Euros. Source: Tagesschau news programme of the German public television broadcaster ARD.
Walvis Bay as epicentre
In Namibia, 75 new corona infections have been registered in the past three days – 74 in Walvis Bay and one in Katima Mulilo.
On Saturday, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula announced 15 cases, all of which were registered in Walvis Bay. The cases are about an 8-year-old girl and ten women aged 25 to 54, three men aged 32 to 36 and a man aged 64.
With 47 cases the number of reported new infections reached a new record on Sunday. Again, all cases come from Walvis Bay: 29 women between 21 and 44 years, 15 men between 18 and 52 years, an 82-year-old as well as a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old boy. The number of recovered COVID-19 patients rose to 24.
On Monday Shangula announced 13 new cases. Eight of these were reported directly from Walvis Bay – a 46-year-old man and seven women aged 27-41.
Four other cases are “exports”. These include a 37-year-old man and a one-year-old baby from Walvis Bay who travelled to Maltahöhe for a funeral and were tested there. A 19-year-old female student was registered as infected in Mariental; she was in contact with a 20-year-old male classmate from Walvis Bay who had been tested positive before. The authorities in the Oshana region in northern Namibia reported a 20-year-old Corona case who had previously been to Walvis Bay.
According to Health Minister Shangula, one case concerns a returnee from abroad: In Katima Mulilo, a 46-year-old male who had returned from Zambia was tested positive in quarantine.