President Hage Geingob has declared a national state of emergency with effect from Tuesday 17 March 2020 to enable the government to marshall resources and put additional measures to curb the COVID-19 in place.
Namibia has two confirmed COVID-19 cases of a couple that flew into the country last week and tested positive a few days after their arrival.
The state of emergency comes a few days after Geingob announced a raft of measures that included travel bans as well as a ban on gatherings.
Geingob’s full statement:
Cabinet, at its meeting held this morning at the State House, received briefings on the status of COVID-19 in Namibia and deliberated the state of readiness to respond effectively to this public health emergency.
The Minister of Health updated on the measures taken to detect, test, isolate and trace cases, to contain the further spread of COVID-19.
The Ministers of International Relations & Cooperation; Finance; Environment & Tourism and,
Industrialisation & Trade also provided updates on the anticipated humanitarian and economic impacts of COVID-19 on Namibia and proposed mitigating strategies.
As emphasized in my statement of March 14, 2020, the Health of Namibians is the first priority. COVID-19 is a public health emergency, considering the threat posed to the lives of the Namibian People. By virtue of the Power vested in me by Article 26(1) of the Constitution, I declare a State Of Emergency, with immediate effect.
I will now proceed to sign the Proclamation.
I now call upon the Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of International Relations to make a brief intervention. She will be followed by the Ministers of Health; Finance; Industrialization, Trade & SME Development, and Environment & Tourism, respectively.
In closing, While the pandemic that we are faced with today is unprecedented, we are confident that working collaboratively, we will respond effectively to minimize the spread of the virus and loss of life, and to restore the health of those affected.
I call upon the Ministry of Health & Social Services and stakeholders to provide a comprehensive Public Education Campaign to empower our People with the necessary preventative measures.
I appeal to all International Cooperating Partners and stakeholders and to our Private Sector to support the government’s response measures and mobilize resources to combat the further spread of this virus.
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