SITREP 58


SITREP 58



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Ministry of Health and Social Services
Republic of Namibia
NAMIBIA
Date & Time of
report
Prepared by
COVID-19
15.05.2020 22:30
Surveillance Team
Country affected
Investigation start date
Namibia
13 March 2020
Date of outbreak declaration in Namibia: 14 March 2020.
1.
SITUATION UPDATE / HIGHLIGHTS
e No new confirmed case was reported in the last 40 days (5 April — 15 May 2020).
e Cumulatively, 16 confirmed cases have been reported in the country, to date.
e Ofthe 16 confirmed cases, thirteen (13) have recovered
e Supervised quarantine for all people arriving from abroad, for 14 days is ongoing.
e Stage 1 of the state of emergency ended on 4 May 2020, and stage 2 is ongoing
from 5 May until 2 June 2020;
o Wearing a mask in public is mandatory
o All borders will remain closed except for essential/critical services and
humanitarian support to the response.
o All other prevention measures are applicable to the entire country
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2. BACKGROUND
Description of the cases
e 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 March 2020.
e Total number of imported cases currently stands at 13 while 3 cases are local
transmissions.
e There is no evidence of community transmission in the country at the moment.
Table 1: Confirmed cases by region as of 15 May 2020
Reporting
Total Cases | New cases | Active cases | Recovered
region
Khomas
11
0
2
9
//Karas
1
0
0
1
Erongo
4
0
ih
3
Total
16
0
3
13
| Death
0
0
0
0
3-
QO -
a oO o 7A a Nst M
~~oO
> mF
> 7 >4
Oo 2
2
8
SooYSNnOOT
N o=O>OAooN N A 9 SC=> 8 A> 6SN
Date of symptoms onset
N~
© an N HH GD
Ti oaOw 2 7 8OSW 8*
~ oAoNgo
To SaOno o a 8 SS 2a8>
N
NN NN
Figure 1: Epi-curve for COVID-19 confirmed cases in Namibia as of 15 May 2020
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6
5
4
‘
7
Oto4
5to 14
E
i
15to34 35to59
Age group (years)
60to79
m= Male
im Female
Figure 2: Age and sex distribution for COVID-19 confirmed cases in Namibia as of 15 May
2020
0 100 200 300 400 500km
ee
_
COVID-19 Cases Namibia
() Districts
® Positive Cases
Lab Tested Cases
(1 No Test
(1-49
G8 50-100
G@® 101-150
GH 151-1047
Figure 3: Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia per District, 15 May 2020
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3. PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION / RESPONSE INTERVENTIONS
EPIDEMIOLOGY & SURVEILLANCE
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 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.
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
Active surveillance working case definition as of 20 April 2020
A patient diagnosed with Upper/Lower Respiratory Infection (Mild or Severe)
presenting any of the following signs and symptoms: cough, sore throat, fever,
chills, myalgia/body pains or shortness of breath in the past 7 days.
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 every day.
= Data entry is ongoing and real-time data dashboard has been completed and
ready to be launched soon.
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" Continous support for the COVID-19 intergrated online training in partnership
with WHO is ongoing.
* Active case search in all regions aimed at looking for possible community
transmission is ongoing.
« Weekly ZOOM sessions with regional teams is on going last meeting held 15
May 2020
= Contact tracing is ongoing (see table 2).
= People under mandatory quarantine are being monitored daily (see table 3) and
will be tested on day 12 before release on day 15 if they test negative.
Contact tracing Summary
Table 2: National contacts tracing summary for COVID-19 as of 15 May 2020
Variables
High | Medium | Low | Total
Total Number of contacts listed (potential)
70
52
137 | 259
Total number of Contacts never reached
0
0
16
16
Total Number of contacts identified
70
52
121 | 243
Total Number of contacts that developed signs & symptoms
25
8
7
40
*Total Number contacts without signs & symptoms TESTED
20
5
pe |
52
© Total Number of contacts lost to follow up
0
2
5
7
Total Number of contacts tested positive (became cases)
3
1
0
4
Number of active contacts monitored/followed in the last 24hrs
3
0
0
3
Total number of Contacts completed 14-days follow up
64
49
116 | 229
*Number of 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 of origin.

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Table 3: Number of people in mandatory quarantine facilities as of 15 May 2020
Region
Kunene
Omaheke
Kavango
Omusati
Oshana
Ohangwena
Hardap
Otjozondjupa
Khomas
Zambezi
//Karas
Erongo
Total
Newly
quarantined
24hrs
16
1
0
6
1
0
32
0
2
7
0
0
65
Cumulative
number
people
42
43
4
71
8
131
102
215
296
174
190
47
1323
Number _ of | Number of people
of | people
in
quarantine
discharged | now
1
41
18
25
2
2
41
30
J
3
JS
76
40
62
ids
62
190
106
111
63
99
91
35
12
750
573
LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
e As of 15 May 2020, 2101 COVID-19 specimens were tested in the two laboratories
(NIP and Path Care) as per table 4. below:
Table 4: COVID-19 specimens recorded at NIP and Path care Laboratories as of 15 May
2020
Laboratory
Total
Variables
NIP | Pathecare | South Africa
Total sample received by the Laboratory
1727 | 566
-
2293
Total sample tested
1556 | 545
-
2101
Total sample re-tested
112 |9
-
121
Total results positive
9
6
*]
16
Total results negative
1547 | 539
-
2086
Total sample discarded
58
8
-
66
Total results pending
1
0
-
1
Total results inconclusive/indeterminate
0
0
-
0
@Total new suspected cases in last 24 hours
89
59
-
148
*1 Patient specimen collected and tested in South Africa, he travelled back before results came out
@ Total new suspected cases laboratory results received within past 24 hours

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COORDINATION AND LEADERSHIP:
Feedback meetings of pillar leads and Incident manager (IM) are ongoing (3
times a week), to share accomplishments and to address key challenges.
Integrated online trainings started on 6 May 2020 and ongoing.
Submitted final inputs on SOPs and indicators to pillars for finalisation and
submission to management for endorsement.
CASE MANAGEMENT :
Out of the 16 cumulative confirmed cases, 13 have recovered after testing negative
twice for COVID-19 at 48 hours’ interval.
The remaining 3 active cases are in stable condition and are all asymptomatic.
INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL:
Conducted a briefing on the use of masks in public places at a media centre
Completed a 3-day IPC online training session with over 100 participants with very
good feedback from participants.
Completed IPC Facility Readiness Checklist from regions and continue engaging
the Case Management team.
Distributioonf PPE according to the plan for the regions is ongoing.
LOGISTICS:
Facilitation of the allocation of quarantine facilities in the country and
transportation for discharged people from quarantine facilities is ongoing.
Provision of commodities’ specifications and verification for procurement is being
done regularly.
POINTS OF ENTRY:
Screening and inspection of incoming travellers and trucks at points of entry and
check points are ongoing
NUST provided a presentation on a demo software for tracking truck drivers
traveling through Namibia.
Points of Entry pillar is currently setting up the regions for receiving daily reports
on the activities at all Points of Entry.
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e Conducted two online integrated training session on SOPs at POE in the country
e Finalised the SOP for management and monitoring of trucks and other vehicles and
shared with ministry of works and Transport to add their inputs
RISK COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
e The communication hub continues to give updates on COVID-19 and clarify
miscommunications on a daily basis.
© This is done concurrently with the social media updates.
e The Media continue to communicate messages on COVID-19 and the lifting of the
lockdown to stage 2.
e The RCCE continues to share messages on COVID-19 prevention measures.
PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES:
e Provision of health education, psychosocial support services, as well as food at
places where persons in need of shelter are placed are ongoing.
4. CHALLENGES:
e Inadequate isolation units at health facilities in the regions.
e Unavailability of probes and primers for NIP laboratory to start testing for Seasonal
Influenza (H1N1).
e Inadequate PPE
e Delayed distribution of viral swabs to different regions
5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD:
e Establish fully equipped isolation units at health facilities in the regions.
e NIP to fast track procurement process for laboratory testing kits ( probes and
primers) for Seasonal Influenza (H1N1) testing.
e Logistics pillar to continue with the procurement and distribution of sufficient PPE
to the regions to ensure that response is not interrupted.
e NIP to fast track the distribution of viral swabs to regions
Approved:
YAO Te
Incident Manager
Date: 15 May 2020
. Secretariat
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