Niël Terblanché
A FIFTY-FIVE year old man with severe COVID-19 symptoms passed on while under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of a Walvis Bay hospital.
Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, the Minister of Health and Social Services, during the latest information session at the National COVID-19 Communication Centre, announced the death and used the opportunity to convey his condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased patient.
The health minister added that the number of people that are extremely sick have increased from 8 to 13.
He said that all the serious cases are admitted to Intensive Care or High Care Units and are all on oxygen feeds.
Dr. Shangula further announced that 97 new cases of COVID-19 infection have been registered in Namibia over the past 24 hours.
“Two of the new cases are from Engela in the Ohangwena Region. The nine-year-old and 42-year-old patients are both contacts of a confirmed case in the same district. The patients have been isolating at home for longer than 14 days after their source case was identified,” he said.
The minister indicated that one person tested positive at Outapi after he travelled from Walvis Bay on 12 July.
According to Dr. Shangula, the 29-year-old man reported to a quarantine facility shortly after his arrival and that his test results proved positive while he was in isolation.
“This is a good practice and we encourage that more people do the same,” Dr. Shangula said.
Three of the new cases are from Swakopmund, while a man tested positive in Katima Mulilo.
The minister said the details of the Katima Mulilo case are still under investigation.
“Ninety of the 97 new cases are all from Walvis Bay. Among them are three health care workers. The youngest patient is three years old while the oldest patient is 66,” he said.
Dr. Shangula added that 7 people have been declared as recovered after retesting proved negative.
He said the patients that were registered as numbers 89, 103,143, 166, 169,179 and 244 have recovered and were discharged.
The number of recoveries recorded since the start of the pandemic now stands at 42.
According to Dr. Shangula, health officials are managing 1 298 active cases while the number of active contacts under surveillance has increased to 1 881.
