The Namibia National coordinator, Dr Bernard Haufiku, says people cannot say that Namibia can only suspect that there are community transmissions and that he suspects community transmissions are just a matter of time before it’s discovered.

He also said it will be a pleasant surprise if Namibia goes to June with no new positive cases and that he hopes NIP won’t take time to decentralise testing since it can become catastrophic if the pandemic grows with only centralised testing.

“From a clinical case testing view, centralised testing has not worked elsewhere,” he said.

Dr Petrus Mhata, the World Health Organisation’s Emergency Preparedness and Response said it is important to disseminate information to in rural areas about curbing the spread of COVID-19. People in overcrowded places with limited sources of water can be badly hit.

Dr Mhata said it is good to suspect COVID-19 community transmissions in Namibia so that we don’t relax and work around the clock to contain and stop such transmissions whenever detected.

He says NIP is capable of testing around 10 per cent of the population should the virus get worse than the status quo. That amounts to around 250 000 people.

He says he strongly suspects that Namibia has community transmissions of the virus and it’s just a matter of time before it’s discovered. It will be a pleasant surprise if the country goes to June with no new Coronavirus positive cases.

Acting NIP COO Boniface Makumbi says they will have a capacity to carry out about 1 400 tests in 24 hours if their suppliers deliver enough reagents.

We have enough personnel ready should the testing increase,” he said.
Makumbi says the NIP tested about 11 of the 16 cases recorded in Namibia with PathCare testing the first two cases three and SA testing the first two cases.