South African truck drivers under 14-day Namibian quarantine

At least 26 truck drivers transporting goods from South Africa will be placed under quarantine for 14 days in Namibia, the state owned New Era daily national newspaper reported.

The truckers, some whose vehicles were transporting medical and food supplies, were held for several days in Botswana. 

Supplies delivered

Traffic officers escorted the trucks to a parking area near the Wernhil Park Mall in Namibia’s capital Windhoek, with the drivers being placed under quarantine while the supplies were being delivered.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the country’s Covid-19 cases had increased to 11, with the latest three, like the first eight, also being linked to travel.

The public broadcaster said the ninth case was a 35-year-old Namibian female who resides in South Africa and came home on March 20.

On March 24 , she was attended to by a private practitioner and advised to go for testing. The result came back positive on March 27. The woman’s condition is said to be stable and arrangements were made for her to be admitted into an isolation facility.

Namibia lockdown

The 10th case is a 33-year-old Namibian female who travelled to Dubai, Ethiopia and Johannesburg, South Africa during March while the 11th is a 69-year-old Namibian male, who travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa and returned home on March 12. 

Namibia’s Khomas and Erongo regions have gone into a lockdown from March 27 to April 16 to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa