Zorena Jantze
THE Swakopmund female patient who was admitted to be checked for the Coronavirus has tested negative.
This was announced by the Minister of Health, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, who also explained that the patient’s samples were taken and sent for testing to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) laboratory in Johannesberg, South Africa.
The NICD is a World Health Organisation (WHO) accredited laboratory which provides specialised diagnostic and pathological services to countries in the SADC region, with respect to the testing of rare and uncommon diseases.
The patient arrived at the Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) on 27 January after she had been on a flight with people traveling from China who were wearing masks and were coughing.
The patient had travelled to Sydney, Australia and returned to Namibia through the HKIA via Doha, Qatar. She had not complained of fever.
On the same day, she checked herself at the Swakopmund District Hospital’s casualty ward at 18:00, with coughing, running nose and a headache.
She was received by a medical officer, who decided that the patient should be isolated, as a suspected Coronavirus patient.
“The samples were dispatched on 3 February 2020. I wish to inform the nation that the results from the NICD indicate that the patient is not infected with the novel 2019 novel Coronavirus. I must stress that this person was screened at the HKIA and was cleared. It therefore shows that our screening method at the airport is effective and can be relied on,” Dr. Shangula said.
He, however, added that the negative results do not mean that Namibia should rest its measures against the Coronavirus.
“It only means that we must strengthen our preparedness to ensure that the Coronavirus does not enter and spread in our country. I also wish to assure the nation that steps have been to capacitate the Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) to be able to conduct confirmatory tests of suspected novel 2019 Coronavirus tests. Conducting these tests locally will tremendously strengthen our response to be able to treat and manage patients timeously, in case a positive result is identified,” Dr. Shangula said.
WHO announced that as of 4 February 2020, there were 20,471 confirmed cases and 425 people had died.
