SITREP 20


SITREP 20



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Ministry of Health and Social Services
Republic of Namibia
QLaeVSS)a) OWorrgladnizHaetailotnh
NAMIBIA
Outbreak ame
Date & Time of
report
Prepared by
07 April 2020 22:00
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 (07 April 2020).
Cumulatively, 16 confirmed cases have been reported in the country, 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.
© 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
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 are
3
= There is no evidence of community transmission in the country at the moment.
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Table I Confirmed cases by region as of 07 April 2020
QO -
Date of symptoms onset
Figure 1 Epi-curve for COVID-19 confirmed cases in Namibia as of 07 April 2020
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.
0 100 200 300 400 500 km
ee
COVID-19 Cases- Namibia
(“] Districts
° Lab tested Cases
ae
% Positive Cases
Figure 2: Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia per District, as of 07 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 07 .04.2020
Variables
Contact risk level
High
Medium | Low | Total
Total Number of contacts listed
61
34
109
204
Total Number of contacts identified
6l
34
99
194
Eas Number of active contacts (being
Al
14
31
86
ollowed)
Se of contacts monitored/followed in the 34
7
9
50
ast 24hrs
Total number of Contacts completed 14-days
17
17
63
7
follow up
Total Number of contacts that developed signs 18
3
5
26
& symptoms
Total Number of contacts tested positive
3
1
0
4
*Total Number of contacts tested without signs
and symptoms
6
0
i
© Total Number of contacts lost to follow up 0
Z
5
@
# 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 07.04.2020
Name of the
Facility
Hardap Resort
Rock Lodge
(Debmarine)
*Other placesin
Windhoek
Zambezi
Waterfront park
Gross Barman
Total
Cumulative | Number of people
number of | who developed signs
people
& symptoms and
tested
40
0
39
0
| 141
6
78
3
22
0
320
7
Test results | Number of
people
discharged
0
0
0
0
4 Negative | 35
3 Negative | 0
0
0
‘j
35
LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
= Stock level of testing kits at NIP is currently 1300
= As of 7 April 2020, a total of 408 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 07.04.2020
As of 07/04/2020
Laboratory
NIP | Path care
South Africa
—
Total sample received by the Laboratory
248 | 160
-
408
Total sample tested
175 | 158
-
333
Total results received
175 | 158
-
333
Total results positive
9
6
“i
16
Total results negative
166 | 152
-
318
Total sample discarded
29 i2
-
31
Total results pending
20 | 0
-
20
Total results inconclusive/indeterminate
0
0
-
0
Total new suspected cases in last 24 hours
20 |0
-
20
*] Patient specimen collected and tested in South Africa
COORDINATION AND LEADERSHIP:
# Daily feedback meetings between pillar leads, coordination team and Incident
manager ongoing, to share daily accomplishments and to address key challenges
* Monitoring at road blocks, quarantine and isolation facilities being conducted
regularly to ensure smooth coordination of COVID-19 interventions.
= Members from coordination team have been allocated to support/coordinate pillar
activities.
« Many efforts to increase isolation and quarantine facilities are ongoing.
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CASE MANAGEMENT
2 Out of the 16 cumulative confirmed cases, 3 recovered, and have been
discharged, after testing negative for COVID-19.
= The other 13 confirmed cases are in stable conditions.
= Conversion of casualty department at Windhoek Central Hospital (WCH) into
a highly infectious referral ICU underway.
2 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 of 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 on COVID-19 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.
= A pamphlet for truck drivers has been developed.
o Jt communicates information on COVID-19 prevention measures for the
truckers and informs about procedures that should be taken into account
when entering Namibia.
= The translations of the posters on COVID-19 signs and symptoms and
preventions measures have been concluded and now awaits printing.
= The Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services marks the World Health Day,
putting emphasis on this year’s theme of supporting the nurses and midwives as
the country battles to contain the spread of COVID-19.
=" The MoHSS continue to conduct press briefing regularly.
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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
= Two social workers assigned to surveillance team
4. CHALLENGES
o Inadequate and at some places lack of isolation units at health facilities and at points
of entry in the regions.
o Inadequate PPE and printed IEC materials on COVID-19
o Insufficient COVID-19 laboratory testing kits
o Need for health information and education materials in multiple languages.
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
« Identify and costed urgent needs e.g. PPE to submit to the management to ensure
health care workers are protected from infections when handling suspected and
confirmed cases
# 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: 07.04.2020
Secretariat