Namibia will transit from stage 2 to stage 3 on 1 June 2020 except the Walvis Bay area where two Covid-19 cases were reported this week. President Hage Geingob said this was decided in a Cabinet meeting held on 26 May 2020 in Windhoek.
Namibia has 22 cases of Covid-19 and has not recorded any death. For close to two months, Namibia had not had reported any case. Out of the 16 that were recorded until last week, 14 had recovered.
Addressing a press conference at State House Thursday, Geingob said the cabinet meeting evaluated available data and assessed the national level of preparedness to respond to COVID-19.
He also said that the meeting deliberated extensively on the measures to reopen the economy without risking reversal of public health gains made.
“Based on key indicators derived from a weekly Monitoring Dashboard, there is merit to further migrate to a level of reduced restriction.
“Therefore, at midnight on Monday 1 June 2020 all 14 regions, with the exception of the Walvis Bay Local Authority Area, will transit from Stage 2 to more moderate precautions under Stage 3, until 29 June 2020, for a period of 28 days or two incubation periods,” Geingob said.
According to Geingob, due to the recent developments at the Walvis Bay Local Authority Area will revert to Stage 1 with immediate feedback for an extended period of seven days and will remain effective until midnight 8 June 2020.
This strict but necessary restriction on the movement of people, he added, is needed to ascertain the extent of the possible spread of the disease.
“The few days also enable the public health sector to identify, trace and test those who have come into contact with the two confirmed cases. The Minister of Health will provide a more elaborate explanation regarding the rationale behind this decision,” Geingob added.
Stages
Under Stage 2, Namibians started wearing face masks when outside their homes and during visits to supermarkets to help limit the spread of coronavirus post the national lockdown. Contact sport was not allowed.
Economic started but with effective social distancing, while those aged above 60 years and those with special health conditions were not be allowed at work but encouraged to practise teleworking for a few weeks. All public gatherings were restricted to a maximum of 10 people.
Under Stage 3, there will be a gradual opening of borders to selected countries in the region, while restaurants, bars and hotels will be allowed to reopen under strict social distancing guidelines.
Secondary schools and universities will be allowed to resume face-to-face classes, while public gatherings will be restricted to 20 people.
The borders would be open for international travel in Stage 4, however, public gatherings would still be restricted as advised on new information available at the time.
