NAMIBIA has recorded another Covid-19 case.
The latest case involves a 63-year-old Namibian man who is admitted in the intensive care unit of a Walvis Bay hospital.
The
man arrived at the coastal town on a fishing vessel from the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) on 5 May as part of an eight-member crew,
including four Namibians.
Minister of health Kalumbi Shangula
told the daily Covid-19 information session in Windhoek yesterday that
the fishing vessel left Walvis Bay on 25 April to export certain
products to the DRC, which the vessel reached on 30 April.
“It is
reported the patient did not disembark in the DRC, but Congolese
nationals entered the vessel. The vessel returned to Walvis Bay on 5
May. Case number 22 is thus travel-related,” he said.
Shangula
said the patient has underlying medical conditions. On 7 May he
complained to his doctor of a painful shoulder and was released from the
vessel the next day. He went into self-quarantine without seeing a
doctor and was not tested for Covid-19 at the time.
“The rest of
the crew are still on the vessel. On 14 May the man called his general
practitioner for a prescription after which he went to the pharmacy to
collect his medication. On 19 May the patient went to see his general
practioner with the same complaint of chronic pain. No fever or
respiratory symptoms were reported at this point or before. The doctor
examined him and gave him some medication to take home,” Shangula said.
He said the patient had difficulty breathing when presenting himself at a local private hospital on 22 May.
He
was incubated and rushed to the intensive care unit (ICU), where a
rapid Covid-19 antibody test was conducted and returned positive.
“He
was then put in isolation in the ICU at the hospital. A specimen was
taken for Covid-19 testing. The result came out positive. The patient is
currently in a critical condition on a ventilator and his condition has
not changed since admission to the ICU,” Shangula said.
The minister said all contacts at the hospital have been identified and tested for Covid-19. Test results were negative.
Contacts
have been moved to an isolation facility for further monitoring and
other possible contacts outside the hospital are being traced.
