Covid-19 diagnosed trucker escapes from quarantine

Charmaine Ngatjiheue and Sonia Smith

HEALTH minister Kalumbi Shangula on Sunday morning confirmed a positive case of covid-19 at Walvis Bay.

The latest case is a male truck driver aged 47, who had escaped into the community from the truck port quarantine facility with another trucker.

The truck driver travelled from South Africa on 8 May.

“His last trip to South Africa was on 3 May 2020. He was quarantined at Walvis Bay truck port, then he sneaked out into the community with another truck driver. They were apprehended by the police and put in a supervised quarantine at the Walvis Bay hospital isolation unit. The contact tracing team from the ministry will trace the contacts, especially in the community where he went,” the minister said.

He added that the driver's results came out positive yesterday, bringing Namibia's cases of Covid-19 to 21.

“He is asymptomatic and remains at the Walvis Bay isolation unit. This is the fifth confirmed case from quarantine groups, who all travelled back from South Africa,” Shangula stated.

The two drivers have since been fired by their employer for contravening the quarantine regulations.