Martin Endjala
President Hage Geingob has called on Namibians to show patriotism in fighting Covid-19 as winter is approaching during which people mostly stay indoors and close to each other.
He said said this in today’s 42nd national Covid-19 update at State House.
The current dispensation of regulations such allowing a thousand people at public gatherings, sale of alcohol from 09h00 am to 23h00 pm from Monday to Saturday and the wearing of masks when in confined spaces have been extended to 15 May 2022.
Geingob emphasized that people should not become complacent now, and that it is in their best interest to continue adhering to Covid-19 measures. “Listen to the voice of reason and get vaccinated, for it is the right thing to do for you, your family and for the country,’’ Geingob stated.
The president pointed out that, the country has been devastated by the impact of Covid-19 and that the government continues to safeguard the livelihoods of all Namibians.
He stressed that the holistic drive in increasing vaccine uptake, will not only reduce sever illnesses and hospitalisations, but it will uplift the country’s economy, especially in the tourism sector and the hospitality sector that have been heavily impacted by Covid-19.
As the country battles to achieve heard immunity, Geingob lamented that, “there seems to be more work still to be done, before we can safely say Covid-19 is behind us’’.
The Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula, spoke out against false information circulating that scabies is caused by Covid-19. Shangula stated that, scabies has been in existence for many years before the discovery of Covid-19 in the world, assuring the public that it is not caused by Covid-19.
Fully vaccinated persons countrywide now stand at 399 304, translating to 22.4 percent, which is far below the targeted vaccination percentage of 70 percent to reach heard immunity.
The country has reported 157 915 Covid-19 cases out of 992 032 samples tested so far with active cases increasing from 222 to 296 cases from the last briefing. Seven lives have been lost since the last briefing, bringing the number of deaths in the country to 4 021.
The number of deaths, have decreased from 19 deaths to seven during the 25 days of this dispensation, translating to a decline of 63.2 percent, compared to the preceding 28 days.
Shangula, assured the nation that the BA4 and the BA5 sub linages of the Omicron variant detected in South Africa and of late in Botswana on 11 April in four individuals and in other countries, is still being studied in terms of disease spread and virulence in the country.
Namibians are urged to apply the health measures put in place in mitigating the pandemic, given the
cold winter approaching.
