SITREP 89


SITREP 89



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Ministry of Health and Social Services
Republic of Namibia
Be World Health
SS Organization
NAMIBIA
Date & Time of
this report
Prepared by
15.06.2020
00:00 hrs
Surveillance Team
Investigation start
date
13 March 2020
1,
SITUATION UPDATE / HIGHLIGHTS
e Two new confirmed cases were recorded today (15 June 2020)
e Cumulatively, 34 confirmed cases have been reported in the country.
© Of the 34 confirmed cases, eighteen 18 (52.9%) have recovered.
e Twenty-eight 28 (82.4%) of the confirmed cases are imported while 6 (17.6%) are
local transmissions.
e Two Namibian truck drivers from Gobabis tested positive of COVID-19 in
Botswana.
e No death has been recorded, case fatality rate is 0%
e On 08 June 2020, His Excellency, The President of the Republic of Namibia
announced the extension of the Stage | restrictions imposed on the Walvis Bay
Local Authority Area to the entire Erongo region;
o Effective from midnight 08 June 2020 until midnight 22 June 2020.
e The other regions are still under Stage 3 of national lockdown which covers a period
of 28 days (01 June 2020 — 29 June 2020).
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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-years-old male and a 25-years-
old female, arrived from Madrid, Spain on 11 March 2020.
e On 15 June 2020, Namibia recorded two new confirmed cases, bringing the total
number of confirmed cases to 34.
o Case 33 is a 35-years old Namibian male with South African citizenship
who travelled from SA on 14 June 2020. He was put into quarantine in
Khomas Region.
o Case 34 is a 39-years old Namibian female from Walvis Bay, Erongo
Region. She is a contact of case number 32.
3. EPIDEMIOLOGY
Since 14 March, 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared in Namibia, a total of
34 cases have been confirmed. So far, four (4) regions have been affected, of which Khomas
region recorded the highest number of cases; 17 (50%), while Hardap region recorded the
least; 2 (5.9%), as per figure 1, below
8
‘i6
a0 .
Khomas
i A.
[Karas
4fs
Erongo
Region
Bea
Hardap
mTotal number of cases mActivecases mRecovered mDeath
Figure 1 Distribution of Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia, by region as of 15 June
2020
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Namibia recorded its cases of COVID-19 during the epidemiological weeks displayed in figure
2 below.
7
5
0
a
ib
10 11 #12 #13 #14 «#415 «#16 «#«17 #18 «19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Epidemiological week, 2020
Figure 2: Epi-curve for confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia as of 15 June 2020
As presented in figure 3 below, more male cases are recorded; 22 (64.7%) comparing to female
cases; 12 (35.3%).
5
4
2
, a ft
ii
0-9
10 to 19
20 to 29
30to39
40to49
50 to 59
60 to 69
70 to 79
80+
Age group
=Male m Female
Figure 3: Age and sex distribution of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Namibia as of 15 June
2020
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cNACaoastsPeeeo:inbtutis naotSptahteialactrueaplreLsoecnattaitoinonof otfhea
COVID-19 Cases-Namibia
© Positive Cases
Lab Tested Cases by District
(5 No Test
1-49
i 50-99
lii 1>0207-04099
0—_ 100 —20_ 0 — 300—4— 00 500km
Figure 4: Distribution of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia by District,
15 June 2020
4. PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION / RESPONSE INTERVENTIONS AND
SURVEILLANCE
Case definitions as of 20 March 2020:
Suspected 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
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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
e Call centre continue operations for 24 hours every day; 697 calls were answered
at the hotline today (15.06.2020) and 7 alerts were investigated.
e Namibia COVID-19 dashboard accessible via a link on the MoHSS’s website
http:/Avww.mhss.gov.na/ or at https://cutt.ly/Covid-19-situation-Namibia
e Active case search in all regions is on going.
e Contact tracing and monitoring is ongoing (see Table 1).
e Mandatory supervised quarantine of all persons arriving from abroad is ongoing
(see Table 2).
o All people are tested upon entry into mandatory quarantine for rapid
detection of positive cases.
o All people in quarantine are monitored daily for 14 days and are being
tested twice ( upon arrival and on day 12 before release on day 15 if they
test negative).
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CONTACT TRACING SUMMARY
Table 1: National contacts tracing summary for COVID-19 as of 15 June 2020
Total Number of contacts listed for follow up (potential)
200
100
282 | 582
Total Number of contacts identified (cumulative)
200
100
266 | 566
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
28
9
9
46
Total Number of contacts that tested positive (became cases)
4
1
0
5
Number of active contacts monitored/followed in the last 24hrs | 37
4
19
60
Total number of Contacts completed 14-days follow up
159
95
240 | 494
As of 15 June 2020, a total of 566 contacts of confirmed cases have been identified. A total of
494 contacts have completed their 14 days of follow up, 60 are still active and being monitored
daily for 14 days and all were monitored today. (Table 1).
The National and Regional team is supporting the Walvis Bay district team in reviewing recent
cases and contacts to rule out possible community transmission and to identify possible
COVID-19 transmission hot spots for enhanced response.
Table 2: Number of people in mandatory quarantine facilities as of 15 June 2020
Kunene
Omaheke
Kavango
Omusati
Oshana
Ohangwena
Hardap
Otjozondjupa
Khomas
Zambezi
//Kharas
Erongo
Oshikoto
Total
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As of 15 June 2020, a total of 2917 persons who came into the country have been placed into
supervised quarantine facilities around the country. Of the 2917, 2305 have been discharged
and 612 are currently quarantined (Table 2).
LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS
e As of 15 June 2020, a total of 5943 (including 507 re-tested) COVID-19 specimens
have been tested in the two laboratories (NIP and Path Care) as per Table 3 below:
Table 3: COVID-19 specimens recorded at NIP and Path care Laboratories as of 15 June
2020
Total sample received by the Laboratory
Total sample tested
Total sample re-tested
Total results positive
Total results negative
Total sample discarded
Total results pending
Total results inconclusive/indeterminate
Total new suspected cases in last 24 hours
COUNTRY COORDINATION, PLANNING AND MONITORING
e A delegation has been sent to Erongo region to give technical support for two weeks
from 11 - 25 June 2020.
e Another delegation was sent to Omaheke Region today (15 June 2020) to give 2
days technical support.
e Drafted and submitted a concept note for integrated support visits to other regions
(Zambezi, Kavango, Ohangwena, Omusati, Kunene, Karas and Oshana region) to
management.
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CASE MANAGEMENT:
© Out of the 34 cumulative confirmed cases, 18 have recovered after testing negative
twice for COVID-19 at 48 hours’ interval.
© Ofthe 16 active cases, | is still in ICU but in a stable and improving condition. The
other 15 are clinically stable.
INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL:
e IPC activities are on going:
o Distribution of PPE according to the Regional plans
© Monitoring of IPC in health facilities
LOGISTICS.
e Received a donation of 35 laptops (each with a bag and a mouse), and 37 tablets
from Old Mutual Namibia for surveillance pillar.
o. The electronic devices were issued to the surveillance team.
e Facilitation of the allocation of quarantine facilities around the country and
transportation of discharged people from quarantine facilities is ongoing.
e A donation was received from UNICEF on 13 June 2020 containing:
o N95 Masks — 27 670
o XI Coveralls —47 800
o Thermometers — 200
POINTS OF ENTRY:
e Ongoing screening and inspection of incoming travellers and trucks at points of
entry and check points.
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Table 4. Distribution of truck drivers who came into Namibia from neighboring countries
and their destination regions on 15 June 2020
Karas
Khomas
Oshana
Otjozondj
Kavango
Ohangwena
Hardap
Kunene
Omaheke
Omusati
Oshikoto
Zambezi
Erongo
Total
127
177
The majority 127(72%) of the truck drivers departed from South Africa to various regions. The
largest number (53) of truck drivers were headed to Khomas Region (Table 4).
RISK COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
e The sms project with MTC and TN Mobile has resumed. A set of messages on
COVID-19 have been developed. The messages are aimed at giving tips on the use
of masks, prevention mechanisms and on nutritional guidlines. The messages will
be shared with all MTC and TN mobile users as from the 15" June 2020.
e An additional 2000 copies of the Community Engagement toolkit printed by
UNAIDS have been received and the distribution has commenced.
© The media monitoring activities still continues with aim of showing how the public
is interacting with the IEC materials.
¢ Distribution of IEC Materials to schools is on-going.
e A total of 400 community engagement toolkits have been delivered to the Ministry
of Education, Arts and Culture. This will enable the schools to facilitate educational
sessions on COVID-19.
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e A google drive has been created to save all final copies of the materials produced
for COVID — 19. These materials are to be shared with the IT department for
uploading on the Ministerial website.
e The National Statistics Agency presented a tool to the RCCE team. The design of
this tool assists in the analysis of information on social media and detection of fake
news.
PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES:
© Continous provision of health education, psychosocial support services to persons
in need;
o Confirmed cases and their families
co People in quarantine
5. CHALLENGES:
© Inadequate isolation units at health facilities in the regions.
e Inadquate PPE
e Inadequate nasopharyngeal swabs and appropriate transport media.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS AND WAY FORWARD:
e Establish fully equipped isolation units at health facilities in the regions.
¢ 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.
Approved:
-_
a
cee it
Incident Manager
Date: 15 June 2020
Secretariat
For enquiries, please contact
Namibia Public Health Emergency Operations Centre;
Email: PHEOC@mhss.gov.na
Hotline Toll-free: 0800 100 100
Hotline Whatsapp: 085 1100 100
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