Namibia’s deputy health minister Esther Utjiua Muinjangue on Tuesday said that the country is still faced with the challenge of obtaining protective face masks as the four-stage strategy to exit the COVID-19 lockdown kicked off Tuesday.
Under the current stage 2, it is compulsory to wear masks in public areas.
Muinjangue said that the government has since engaged with the Ministry of Trade and Industrialization to avail the list of producers who will be able to supply the government, who will, in turn, distribute them.
“I appeal to those Namibians who already have masks to put them on to control the potential risk of spreading the virus. We should also continue to promote social distancing and regularly wash our hands,” Muinjangue.
Meanwhile, according to trade minister Lucia Iipumbu, local tailors identified will produce 25,000 face masks needed to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Recently the Namibian government also received two consignments of COVID-19 aid from the Chinese government as well as further assistance from the Jack Ma Foundation, which included 30,000 medical masks, among other vital paraphernalia to combat the virus.
To date Namibia has had 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which eight have recovered, Muinjangue said. Enditem
