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Health Minister says no confirmed COVID-19 case to date

Health Minister says no confirmed COVID-19 case to date

The suspected cases of COVID-19 that were recorded in the country all tested negative, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula confirmed Wednesday.

Shangula at a media brief in Windhoek assured the nation that the country’s surveillance and screening measures are proving effective as evidenced by the number of suspected cases being attended to.

According to Shangula, as of Tuesday, nine suspected cases were recorded, two in Luderitz, two in Rehoboth and four in Windhoek of which all came out negative, while the specimen for the Onandjokwe is yet to be processed.

“I want to underscore that our surveillance systems are reliable and that Namibia has no confirmed COVID-19 case to date,” he said.

Shangula said the government has since implemented interventions for COVID-19 preparedness, which includes putting in place capabilities for screening and laboratory testing for suspected cases.

“I wish to inform the nation that in addition to screening capacities at our ports of entry, the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) is able to carry out confirmatory tests,” he said adding, that the capability of the NIP to conduct these tests places Namibia among a few African countries that conduct such tests domestically.

Meanwhile, Shangula urged the to shy away from propagating false information on COVID-19 and panic through social media and other platforms.

“Spreading unconfirmed or unsubstantiated information causes unnecessary alarm among members of the public and undermines the effectiveness of our interventions,” he said.


 

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Musa Carter

Musa Carter is a long-standing freelance contributor to the editorial team and also an active reporter. He gathers and verifies factual information regarding stories through interviews, observation and research. For the digital Economist, he promotes targeted content through various social networking sites such as the Economist facebook page (/Nameconomist/) and Twitter.