Zorena Jantze
HEALTH officials are waiting for sample results to determine if Namibia has recorded its first COVID-19 related death.
Giving a health update on the COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia, Dr. Theo Ben Kandetu, head of case management, said that there may have been a suspected COVID-19 related death at the Roman Catholic hospital on Wednesday, 15 April, but that the matter is still under investigation.
A sample from the deceased has been taken to rule out COVID-19 as a cause of death.
“As I mention to you, the events that led to her death are still being investigated. Having said that, the ministry has a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) when it comes to the management of corpses. We apply these SOPs for some years now, regarding this case, that is all I can report for now. The state will communicate through the appropriate channels,” Dr Kandetu stated.
Dr Kandetu also used the occasion to announce that the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the country has dropped to 12 after one more patient recovery.
To date, Namibia has tested 16 positive coronavirus cases.
According to Dr Kandetu, so far 4 recoveries have been made, which include case number 3, 5, 6 and 14.
Case 14 is the most recent recovery.
He further cleared up past reports from government that the first two-suspected case of COVID-19 in the country, identified as a Romanian couple, have recovered, and corrected that the couple has in fact still not been repatriated back to their country as they tested positive for the coronavirus again.
A total of 81 people are currently in quarantine and from a total of 346 persons that entered the country, 6 were tested after they presented COVID-19 symptoms.
All tests, however, came back negative.
