22 January 2021 | Health
SKELETON STAFf: Hospitals countrywide are short-staffed as more health workers test positive for the coronavirus. Photo: Tuyeimo Haidula
TUYEIMO HAIDULA
OSHAKATI
Oshikoto Region health workers make up more than half of the 1 488 who have tested positive for coronavirus in Namibia.
Health ministry executive director Ben Nangombe has issued a statement in response to a recent newspaper article, denying that many of the employees had contracted the virus at work.
The hardest hit district is Onandjokwe, with 525 cases, followed by Tsumeb district with 299 and Omuthiya with 200 cases.
Nangombe said ambulance drivers, doctors, nurses, radiographers, cleaners, a data clerk and a health assistant were among the Covid-19 cases identified in the Onandjokwe district.
15 January 2021 | Health
RARE COMMODITY: Of the 202 ventilators for Covid-19 patients in Namibia, 25 are at private facilities, and 177 in state hospitals. This photo is for illustration purposes only.
PHOTO: Nampa-AP
Image credit: Tempura/Getty Images
JEMIMA BEUKES
WINDHOEK
Despite Namibia having 3 449 active cases of Covid-19, the country only has 318 ventilators and 235 intensive care unit (ICU) beds to its disposal.
Of the 318 ventilators, only 202 are reserved for Covid-19 ICU wards.
As of Wednesday, 297 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, 33 of them in ICUs.
So far, 271 people have died from the virus or related complications, with seven fatalities announced on Wednesday. Yesterday’s daily Covid-19 update was not available at the time of going to print.