SITREP 19


SITREP 19



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Ministry of Health and Social Services
Republic of Namibia
NAMIBIA
Outbreak Name | COVID-19
Country affected
Namibia
Date & Time of
report
Prepared by
06 April 2020 23:00
Surveillance Team
Investigation start date | 13 March 2020
Date of outbreak declaration in Namibia: 14 March 2020.
SITUATION UPDATE / HIGHLIGHTS
No new confirmed cases were reported today (06 April 2020).
Cumulatively, 16 confirmed cases have been reported in the country, to date.
Three confirmed cases have recovered and discharged to date.
Supervised quarantine for all Namibians arriving from other countries for 14 days is
ongoing.
Partial lockdown of Erongo and Khomas regions took effect on 28 March 2020 till 16
April 2020.
o Borders have been closed except for essential/critical services and
humanitarian support to the response.
o All others prevention measures are applicable to the entire country
Key Challenges include:
Inadequate isolation and quarantine facilities,
Inadequate human resources at all levels
Chronic shortage of PPEs, amidst logistic supply chain problems
Inadequate material supplies including ICU units and ventilators.
2. BACKGROUND
Description of the latest cases
Index cases: Two confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Windhoek
district on 13 March 2020. The married couple; a 35-year-old male and a 25-year-
old female, arrived from Madrid, Spain on 11 February 2020.
Total number of imported cases currently stands at 13 and local transmission is 3
There is no evident community transmission in the country at the moment.
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Table 1 Confirmed cases by reg 2ton as Oyf 06 April 2020
14
0+
Date of symptoms onset
Figure 1: Epi-curve for COVID-19 confirmed cases in Namib. 1a as O,of 06 April 2020
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Grootfonteig,
* Mariental
pe
*s
Keetmanshoop
‘*°
0 100 200 300 400 500 km
ey
,
COVID-19 Cases- Namibia
oe
(“) Districts
° Lab tested Cases
% Positive Cases
Figure 2: Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia per District, as of 06 April 2020
3. PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION / RESPONSE INTERVENTIONS
EPIDEMIOLOGY & SURVEILLANCE
e Case definitions as of 20 March 2020:
Suspect case:
A. A patient with acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of
respiratory disease, e.g., cough, shortness of breath), AND a history of travel to or
residence in a location reporting community transmission of COVID-19 disease
during the 14 days prior to symptom onset;
OR
B. A patient with any acute respiratory illness AND having been in contact with a
confirmed or probable COVID-19 case (see definition of contact) in the last 14
days prior to symptom onset;
OR
C. A patient with severe acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one
sign/symptom of respiratory disease, e.g., cough, shortness of breath; AND
requiring hospitalization) AND in the absence of an alternative diagnosis that
fully explains the clinical presentation.
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Probable case: A suspect case for whom testing for COVID-19 is inconclusive.
Inconclusive being the result of the test reported by the laboratory
Confirmed case: A person with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 infection,
irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms.
e Surveillance activities
* Daily pillar and intra-pillar discussions are held to deliberate daily progress,
gaps and way forward;
= Call centre continue operations for 24 hours per day.
= People under mandatory quarantine are being monitored daily (see table 3)
* Data entry is ongoing and data dashboards are under development using
existing platforms.
# Project Active Case Finding (ACF) is currently underway in Khomas, Erongo
and Kharas regions, aimed to look for possible community transmission.
« Contact tracing is ongoing (see table 2)
Contact tracing Summary
Table 2: Contacts tracing summary as of 06 .04.2020
Variables
Contact risk level
High
Medium | Low | Total
Total Number of contacts listed
53
34
103
190
Total Number of contacts identified
53
34
93
180
Total Number of active contacts (being
33
14
25
7
followed)
Number of contacts monitored/followed in the 29
10
6
45
last 24hrs
Total number of Contacts completed 14-days
17
17
63
97
follow up
Total Number of contacts that developed signs
& symptoms
i
1
5
17
Total Number of contacts tested positive
3
1
0
4
*Total Number of contacts tested without signs
and symptoms
6
0
4
10
© Total Number of contacts lost to follow up 0
2
a
7
# Total number of Contacts never reached
0
0
10
10
*Number of (highly exposed) contacts without signs & symptoms tested. One tested positive.
© Seven contacts are lost to follow up, all are non-Namibians and have travelled back to
their countries.
# Ten contacts could not be reached as they did not provide contact numbers.
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Table 3: Number of people in mandatory quarantine facility of 06.04.2020
Name of the
Cumulative | Number of
Test results | Number of
Facility
number of | people who
people
people
developed signs
discharged
& symptoms and
tested
Hardap Resort
40
0
0
0
Rock Lodge
39
0
0
0
(Debmarine)
*Other placesin | 141
4
4 Negative | 35
Windhoek
Zambezi
77
a
3 Negative | 0
Waterfront park
Gross Barman
ae
0
0
0
Total
319
7
e
35
LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
® Stock level of testing kits at NIP is 1800
# As of 6 April 2020, a total of 385 COVID-19 specimens were recorded for testing
in the two laboratories (NIP and Path Care) as per table below:
Table 4: COVID-19 specimens recorded in at NIP and Path care as of 06.04.2020
As of 06/04/2020
Laboratory
NIP | Path care
South Africa
Total sample received by the Laboratory
225 | 160
-
Total sample tested
157 | 158
~
Total results received
157 | 158
-
Total results positive
9
6
*
Total results negative
147 | 152
-
Total sample discarded
Total results pending
29 |2
-
18 |0
-
Total results inconclusive/indeterminate
1
0
-
Total new suspected cases in last 24 hours
18 {0
-
*] Patient specimen collected and tested in South Africa
Total
385
315
315
16
299
31
18
1
18
COORDINATION AND LEADERSHIP:
= Coordination and other pillar team meetings on COVID-19 response are held
daily.
* A Media Centre for providing up-to date and accurate information has been
established at the Khomas Regional Council offices and provides daily updates
twice a day — 10am and 4pm by the MoHSS and key stakeholders,
® Monitoring and Evaluation is being conducted regularly to ensure smooth
coordination of COVID-19 interventions.
* Various partners are actively participating in different pillar groups for COVID-19
response.
* Many efforts to increase isolation and quarantine facilities ongoing.
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CASE MANAGEMENT
= Out of the 16 cumulative confirmed cases, 3 recovered, and have been
discharged, after tested negative for COVID-19.
= The other 13 confirmed cases are in stable conditions. None with severe
symptoms.
* Conversion of casualty department at WCH into a highly infectious referral
ICU underway.
# A 12-bed Isolation Unit is under construction at final stage of completion at
WCH.
= Ramatex renovation underway to be repurposed as an isolation facility
" More screening sites have been identified in the regions.
LOGISTICS:
« Facilitation the allocation of quarantine facilities in the country and transport for
discharged people from quarantine facilities is ongoing.
« Procurement of PPE, Medical suppliers and pharmaceuticals is ongoing
" Provision of commodities’ specifications and verification for procurement is
being done constantly
RISK COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
# Educational sessions continue to be conducted in various media
= The MoHSS in-conjunction with other sectors continues to give daily updates
and prevention measures on COVID-19 at the communication hub.
* The MoHSS continue to conduct press briefing as the situation progresses.
PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES:
= Mapping of 3 shelters for placement of persons without shelter in Windhoek
completed
= Rapid assessment on persons without shelter conducted
# Provision of food, water, as well as psychosocial support and public health education
were provided to a group of 900 persons in need of shelter in Windhoek
= Psychosocial support and post counselling services offered to people under
quarantine, COVID-19 confirmed cases and their families are ongoing
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CHALLENGES
Inadequate and at some places lack of isolation units at health facilities and at points
of entry in the regions.
Inadequate PPE and printed IEC materials on COVID-19
Insufficient COVID-19 laboratory testing kits
Need for health information and education materials in multiple languages.
5, RECOMMENDATIONS
Establish fully equipped isolation units at health facilities and at points of entry in the
regions.
Fast track procurement process for Personal Protective Equipment and COVID-19
laboratory testing kits.
Expedite printing of IEC materials in different vernacular languages.
Continue to build capacity of response workers.
Approved:
Incident/Manager
Date: 06 .04.2020
Secretariat
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