SITREP 66


SITREP 66



1 Page 1

▲back to top


Ministry of Health and Social Services
Republic of Namibia
@) World Health
wv Organization
NAMIBIA
Outbreak Name
Date & Time of
this report
Prepared by
COVID-19 outbreak
23.05.2020
20:15 hrs
Surveillance Team
Country affected
Investigation start date
Namibia
13 March 2020
iL.
SITUATION UPDATE / HIGHLIGHTS
e One new confirmed case was reported (today) 23 May 2020.
e Cumulatively, 21 confirmed cases have been reported in the country, of which
fourteen (14) 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.
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 The new confirmed case is a 47 years old Namibian male, truck driver, who returned
from South Africa on 8 May 2020. He was swabbed on 20 May 2020 and the results
came out positive today (23 May 2020)
e On 22 May 2020 a 35 years old Namibian male who returned from South Africa on
9 May 2020 was confirmed Hardap Region where he was quarantined.
1|Page

2 Page 2

▲back to top


© On21 May 2020 a 30 years old Namibian male who returned from South Africa on
9 May 2020 was confirmed positive. He has since been taken into isolation in
Hardap Region and he is in stable condition.
e On 20 May 2020, two Namibian females who travelled from South Africa in
different private vehicles were confirmed positive.
e Total number of imported cases currently stands at 18 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 23 May 2020
Reporting
Total Cases | New cases | Active cases | Recovered | Death
region
Khomas
Il
0
2
9
0
/IKaras
3
0
2
1
0
Erongo
2
il
1
4
0
Hardap
2
0
2
0
0
Total
21
1
7
14
0
8
7
6
By
33£33
1
0
10
ul
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 20
21
Epidemiological week
Figure 1: Epi-curve for confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia as of 23 May 2020
2| Page

3 Page 3

▲back to top


5
4
3
2
0|
0-4
L
5-14
15-34
35-59
60-79
Age group
= Male
mFemale
80<
Figure 2: Age and sex distribution for COVID-19 confirmed cases in Namibia as of 23 May
2020
0 100 200 300 400 500 km
————
COVID-19 Cases- Namibia
© Positive Cases
Lab Tested cases by District
(No1-49Test
@ 50-100
@® 101-200
li 201-1500
Figure 3: Suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia per District, 23 May 2020
3|Page

4 Page 4

▲back to top


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 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
e 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.
e Surveillance activities
= Two rapid response teams will be sent from National level Plans to investigate
the new cases and give technical support to //Karas and Hardap Region.
= Daily pillar and intra-pillar discussions are held to deliberate on daily progress,
gaps and way forward;
= Call centre continue operations for 24 hours every day; 903 calls answered at
the hotline today (22.05.2020).
= Data entry is ongoing, realtime data dashboard will be launched on 1 June 2020.
4|Pa

5 Page 5

▲back to top


= Supporting COVID-19 intergrated online training in partnership with WHO.
= Active case search in all regions is ongoing.
= Weekly ZOOM sessions with regional teams is on going, last meeting held 17
May 2020; issues of truck driver screening and quarantine facilities discussed
= Contact tracing and monitoring is ongoing (see table 2);
= People under mandatory quarantine are being monitored daily (see table 3) and
are being tested on day 12 before release on day 15 if they test negative.
= Plans are underway to conduct online Data management training early June; 48
participants (34 HIS officers and 14 Regional MIS officers) identified and
training materials under development
Contact tracing Summary
Table 2: National contacts tracing summary for COVID-19 as of 23 May 2020
Variables
High | Medium | Low | Total
Total Number of contacts listed for follow up (potential)
76
52
137 265
Total Number of contacts identified (cumulative)
76
52
121
249
Total number of Contacts never reached
0
0
16
16
© Total Number of contacts lost to follow up
0
2
5
7
Total Number of contacts that developed signs & symptoms| 25
8
7
40
(cumulative)
Total Number of contacts that tested positive (became cases)
3
1
0
4
*Total Number contacts without signs & symptoms TESTED
20
5
27
52
Number of active contacts monitored/followed in the last 24hrs
8
0
0
8
Total number of Contacts completed 14-days follow up| 65
(cumulative)
49
116 230
*Number of contacts without signs & symptoms that were tested. One tested positive.
© Seven contacts are lost to follow up, all are non-Namibians and have travelled back to their countries of origin.
5|Page

6 Page 6

▲back to top


Table 3: Number of people in mandatory quarantine facilities as of 23 May 2020
Region
Kunene
Omaheke
Kavango
Omusati
Oshana
Ohangwena
Hardap
Otjozondjupa
Khomas
Zambezi
//Karas
Erongo
Total
Newly
quarantined
24hrs
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
29
84
0
0
0
116
Cumulative
Number of | Number of people in
number of people | people
quarantine now
discharged
31
26
25
56
27
29
13
4
9
78
60
18
12
6
6
134
100
34
102
72
30
244
168
716
406
231
175
247
134
113
190
99
91
61
46
15
1594
973
621
Table 4. Distribution of truck drivers who came into Namibia from neighboring countries
and their destined regions on 23 May 2020.
Destination
Country of departure
Total
South Africa
Zambia
Botswana
Angola
Karas
50
0
0
0
50
Khomas
97
0
0
1
98
Oshana
4
0
0
0
4
Otjozondjupa
18
0
0
1
19
Kavango
1
0
0
0
1
Ohangwena
11
0
0
1
12
Hardap
1
0
0
0
1
Kunene
0
0
0
0
0
Omaheke
2
0
0
1
3
Omusati
1
0
0
0
1
Oshikoto
2
)
0
0
2
Zambezi
0
0
0
0
0
Erongo
10
55
0
0
65
Total
197
55
0
4
256
6|Page

7 Page 7

▲back to top


LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
e As of 23 May 2020, a total of 3029 COVID-19 specimens were tested in the two
laboratories (NIP and Path Care) as per table 5 below:
Table 5: COVID-19 specimens recorded at NIP and Path care Laboratories as of 23 May
2020
Laboratory
Total
Variables
NIP
Path care | South Africa
Total sample received by the Laboratory
2319
7716
-
3095
Total sample tested
2125
745
-
2870
Total sample re-tested
136
23
-
159
Total results positive
14
6
*1
21
Total results negative
2111
739
-
2850
Total sample discarded
58
8
-
66
Total results pending
0
0
-
0
Total results inconclusive/indeterminate
0
0
-
0
Total new suspected cases in last 24 hours
100
69
-
169
*] Patient specimen collected and tested in South Africa, he travelled back before results came out
COORDINATION AND LEADERSHIP:
e Feedback meetings of pillar leads and Incident Manager (IM) are ongoing (3
times a week), to share accomplishments and to address key challenges.
e Integrated online training started on 6 May 2020 and are ongoing until 26 May
2020.
CASE MANAGEMENT:
e Out of the 21 cumulative confirmed cases, 14 have recovered after testing negative
twice for COVID-19 at 48 hours’ interval.
e One of the remaining 7 active cases has mild sypmtoms while the other six are
asymptomatic.
INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL:
e IPC activities are on going as part of IPC preparedness plan;

8 Page 8

▲back to top


LOGISTICS.
e Facilitation of the allocation of quarantine facilities in the country and
transportation for discharged people from quarantine facilities is ongoing.
e Provision of commodities’ specifications and verification for procurement is being
done regularly.
© Distribution of PPEs to the regions
POINTS OF ENTRY:
e Screening and inspection of incoming travellers and trucks at points of entry and
check points is ongoing
e Plans are underway to prepare the regions to collect and submit daily reports at the
points of entry.
e SOP for management and monitoting of cross border road transport at designsted
Points of Entry and COVID-19 checkpoints finalised
e Checklist for assessment of quarantine facility at ground crossing drafted.
RISK COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
e The COVID-19 Communication Centre continues to give updates on COVID-19
and clarify miscommunications on a daily basis.
e The RCCE continues to share messages on COVID-19 prevention measures
through mass media.
e The Community Engagement toolkit has been printed and being distributed to all
community health workers countrywide.
PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES:
e Continous provision of health education, psychosocial support services, as well as
food to people in need of shelter.
4. CHALLENGES:
e Inadequate isolation units at health facilities in the regions.
e Insuficient PPE and swabs for sample collection from suspected cases identified
through active case search in some districts.
e Inadiquate nasal swab and appropriate transport media.

9 Page 9

▲back to top


5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD:
e Establish fully equipped isolation units at health facilities in the regions.
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 continue sourcing for swabs and appropriate transport media for all districts.
Date: 23 May 2020
Secretariat