20200318 covid 19 media briefing statement


20200318 covid 19 media briefing statement



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REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
Ministry of Health and Social Services
Private Bag 13198
Windhoek
Namibia
Ministerial Building
Harvey Street
Windhoek
Tel: (061) 203 2054
Fax: (061) 301 018
Public.Relations@mhss.gov.na
18 March 2020
MEDIA STATEMENT
Director of the Programme,
Senior Staff Members in the Ministry,
Representatives of Development Co-operation Partners,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. | welcome you to another Weekly Update on COVID-19 in Namibia. Following the
outbreak, the Ministry undertook to provide regular briefings to the nation through the media
on matters regarding the outbreak, at least once every week, and at more frequent intervals,
should the situation dictate. The briefings take place every Wednesday.
2. Today’s briefing comes shortly after His Excellency, Dr Hage G. Geingob declared a State of
Emergency in Namibia on account of the COVID-19 outbreak. As of yesterday, the 17th March
2020, a cumulative number of 24 suspected cases were reported in Namibia and all of them were
tested. Four specimen were testes by the private laboratory of which two tested negative and
two tested positive. The latter two are the Romanian couple. Twenty specimen were tested
locally and all of them tested negative for COVID-19.
3. The couple that tested positive had 25 contacts. Active contact tracing was carried out and 19
contacts were traced. Appropriate measures were taken, which include isolation and
monitoring. S far no secondary transmission was observed.
4. As indicated, our President declared a State of Emergency yesterday, 17 March 2020.
The State of Emergency brings about the introduction and implementation of additional
measures in the COVID-19 response and preparedness. The measures are aimed at curbing
the spread of the disease and particularly to prevent the occurrence of local transmission.
The measures are outlined in a Cabinet Decision, which I announce yesterday at State House.

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The nation is urged to remain calm and to co-operate with the Ministry of Health and Social
Services and other agencies of the State, so that we can defeat and break the transmission of
the virus together. | take this opportunity to commend all who have been involved in
ensuring that our preparedness and response activities are strengthened in order to prevent
local transmission of the virus in our country. Your dedicated efforts have resulted in
tangible results and successes. These include:
¢
Operationalization of a
(EOC), for the purpose
24-hour toll-free hotline
of providing information
at
to
the
the
Emergency Operations Centre
public and addressing inquiries
from persons seeking guidance, including information on the reporting of suspected
cases. Though the hotline, members of the
given relevant information on COVID-19.
public
who
need
medical
services
are
also
e
Compilation
stakeholders
of Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) to guide actions of all
involved in the anti-COVID-19 response. This is part of our compliance
with the call by the World Health Organization on countries to strengthen prevention and
control measures for COVID-19.
Intensification of community mobilization efforts in order to mitigate and refute
misinformation, fear and panic especially from social media. Messages on COVID-19
will be sent to the public to help them better understand the pandemic. Such information
is also useful for practitioners in the areas of guidance on case management and
surveillance.
© Intensified surveillance, monitoring of the situation especially at the main international
ports of entry to ensure prompt case detection and response.
® Collaboration with other institutions and OMAs to compliment the human resources
needs in the MOHSS.
© Putting in place a multi-disciplinary Emergency Response team to attend to suspected
and confirmed cases 24 hours a day.
¢ Deployment of the Class Two Military Field Hospital at Hosea Kutako International
Airport.
e An Incident Manager for COVID was appointed two weeks ago. The Incident Manager
is responsible to coordinate all
government institutions, partner
aspects of the response, namely, selecting relevant
organizations, assigning responsibilities, developing,
implementing and evaluating control plan, and managing information for public and news
media.
I wish to underscore and repeat the message that we have been sharing that in order to
prevent the spread of the disease, our people should take the following prevention measures:
° Regular hand washing with soap and running water.
e Covering mouth and nose with a disposable tissue or cloth when coughing or sneezing.
° Travelers with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practice cough etiquette
and limit contact with others.
e
Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms
coughing and sneezing, keep a distance of one meter.
of respiratory
illness
such
as
e Avoid public gatherings.

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e Thorough cooking of meat, poultry, seafood and eggs.
¢ Drink plenty of fluids and do physical exercises.
°
Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed
in contact with sick person or with potentially infected
hands, especially if you
surfaces or objects.
have
been
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Programme Director
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Our Toll-Free Number is 0800100100 and 911. Members
numbers free of charge to obtain information on COVID-19.
of the public
may
call these
Let me thank you again for coming to this Media Briefing today.
I thank you.