Executive director of health and social services Ben Nangombe says Namibia is closely monitoring the outbreak of the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in northern China.

He is calling on the public to remain calm.

Speaking to Nampa on Tuesday, Nangombe said the ministry would issue a public notice regarding its assessment of the outbreak at an appropriate time.

According to recent media reports, China is experiencing a surge in infections of the respiratory virus which causes symptoms similar to the common cold and influenza and can lead to severe complications such as pneumonia, particularly in infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

"We have learnt a very good lesson from the Covid-19 pandemic. We have put in place and strengthened our public health surveillance of outbreaks. We have strengthened our isolation capacity should it become necessary that people who may be affected need to be isolated, and have strengthened our capacity for the provision of oxygen and the training of public health professionals to deal with public health emergencies," he said.

Nangombe indicated that the outbreak has not been declared a public health emergency or a national concern yet, and no international advisory has been issued by any authority with regards to restrictions on travelling to any destination.

Former health minister Bernard Haufiku has emphasised the need for Namibia to ensure readiness for any disease outbreak.

"It is a standing principle for all of us, not only in the health sector, to be aware and to know what to do when disasters or outbreaks affect us . . . That is the best strategy. We have learnt our lesson with Covid-19 - resources are difficult to invest in structures that are not working," he says.

Haufiku says it is vital for Namibia to have active surveillance in place with a network of partners such as multilateral organisations to keep customising the country's approach to such eventualities.

"If it's a novel virus as it is now speculated, the danger is that you do not know its ultimate behaviour and effects on human beings. One just hopes it is not like Covid-19, but with any new novel organism one always worries, because you are basically studying it and understanding its behaviour," he says.