Namibia: Statement By His Excellency Dr. Hage G. Geingob, President of The Republic Of Namibia On The Occasion Of The 45th Covid-19 Public Briefing On The National Response Measures

Namibia Presidency
President Hage Geingob speaking during media briefing on Covid-19.
14 July 2022
Government of Namibia (Windhoek)
document

Windhoek — Fellow Namibians,

Since the first index case of Covid-19 was detected on 13 March 2020 in Namibia, we have been convening as the Namibian family to communicate and to share measures of the Namibian Government to contain the deadly and invisible enemy of Covid-19. Our first Covid-19 update was on Saturday 14 March 2020. Today, we are in the 45TH Covid-19 update on our National Response Measures.

I am the first to admit that our country traversed a difficult 26 months as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. During that period, 4 060 precious lives have been lost and a cumulative number of 169 400 Namibians were infected by Covid-19. All of us know about a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a colleague and a friend who passed away as a result of Covid-19. Moreover, this invisible enemy of Covid-19 necessitated lockdowns with far-reaching implications on our economy. Companies closed down, supply-chain disruptions affected business operations and many jobs were lost as a result. As a Government, through various relief measures, including a grant to more than 500 000 citizens, we endeavored to limit the economic scarring from Covid-19. In due course, the Government will provide, in the National Assembly, a detailed accountability report related to our interventions in the fight against Covid-19.

There is no doubt that the physical and emotional toll of what we went through as a nation will remain a scar that will be felt for many years to come. Together, we are now in the phase of building back our socio-economic infrastructure from the untold devastation of Covid-19.

In light of the progress that we have made against Covid-19 in the past few months, I am pleased to inform you that we are now at a stage where we can significantly lower the scale of our investment in the fight against Covid-19.

Going forward:

1. All restrictions imposed on account of Covid-19 are removed.

2. However, I still encourage voluntary compliance to public health and social measures. Good hand hygiene should become part of the new normal.

3. The Government will intensify the vaccination campaign. We believe that vaccination is necessary to protect the nation against any outbreak of new variants of Covid-19.

4. Foreign travelers must present Vaccination Certificates at Point of Entry.

This is similar to the requirement for travelers to produce certificates of vaccination against Yellow Fever in some countries.

5. The control of Covid-19 will be carried out in the same way as was for Hepatitis E.

6. The Covid-19 Public Updates shall be discontinued (unless the situation necessitates such interventions).

7. Daily Covid-19 update will be discontinued; the Public will be briefed weekly on the situation on Thursdays at the Government Information Centre by the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

I sincerely commend those who were in the frontline of the fight against Covid-19, health-workers and first responders, including our men and women in uniform who demonstrated commitment to protect our country against this deadly enemy.

Our ability to manage the infection rate is testament of the hard work and dedication of our shared commitment across the public and private sector to fight Covid-19. I also wish to thank our international cooperating partners, including the United Nations (specifically the World Health Organization), the US Centre for Decease Control, as well as embassies and missions that provided different forms of assistance to enable us to contain Covid-19 in particular the People’s Republic of China and India amongst others.

The Covid-19 pandemic was the biggest fight since our independence in 1990. This deadly virus tested our ability to remain united in the Namibian House. Indeed, we emerged bruised during the battle against this invisible and deadly enemy of Covid-19. However, because we stood firm by holding hands during the various battles of the past 26 months, we contained the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our unity remained our strength. Yes, unity is our hard currency as Namibians. Therefore, I wish to thank each and every Namibian for making sure that we reach the stage where we can remove all the restrictions related to Covid-19.

I now invite the Minister of Health and Social Services to provide more details.

I thank you

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