Covid cases in Namibia rises and the capacity of mortuaries run low

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 07:57 am

Namibia’s President Hage Geingob mentioned in the press interview that their country is facing a “dark and sombre moment” as coronavirus deaths and cases rapidly increase.

Addressing the nation, and giving everyone a hard reality check, he adds that there have been 513 deaths in the last 15 days. It is due to the rapid spread of the covid virus that the cases have trebled since the beginning of June.

Namibia has a population of just 2.5 million, which represents one of the worst death rates on the continent. The President has introduced several new restrictions, which includes stopping movement between the country’s regions. He further added that these things were likely to continue to get worse until mid-August at the earliest.

Along with the president, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula also said the country was “literally in an existential struggle and they fighting every day to live our lives. He described a stretched health service and said that the country’s mortuaries have reached their maximum capacity.

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As a measure to tackle the alarming issue, the minister announced that more intensive care beds were being prepared and steps had been taken to boost the country’s purified oxygen supply. During the press meeting, the president sincerely urged people to co-operate with the new measures and insisted the nation would overcome the crisis.

Looking at the condition in Namibia, the country’s biggest trade fair, the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF), has been canceled for the second consecutive year due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Organizers of the fair said that their decision to cancel the event was made to protect the health and safety of visitors, employees, exhibitors, and other stakeholders.

Their spokesperson Jackson Muma asserted that the heightening risks and overwhelming concerns about COVID-19 served as a scale for the OATF not to proceed with the fair during such an unprecedented global situation.

Along with this even their prominent fund-raising gala dinner and official launch of the trade fair has also been called off due to restrictions on public gatherings.