Hardap Governor, Reverend Salomon April, said an increase in isolation centres and mortuary capacity will not make a difference if people are still not taking care of themselves and following the regulations put in place to curb COVID-19.
April made the remarks at the Mariental State Hospital on Friday while receiving donations valued at N.dollars 500 000 from the business community of Mariental. They renovated a ward at the hospital to be used as an isolation unit, donated 300 oxygen cylinders of 9.2kg each, a mobile mortuary as well as matrasses and bedding.
“This isolation area and mortuary will not be enough for us, we will be overwhelmed with cases, if we don’t take care of ourselves. No doctors, police can thus safe our lives, we should start to take care of our own lives and stay at home, we cannot continue to live like everything is normal, some sense of change and responsibility is a must,” said April.
The governor said the frontline workers who are dealing with patients on a daily basis are doing their best under difficult circumstances as some are infected and affected by the virus, adding that the least the inhabitants of the region should do is to give them support by cooperating and praying for them.
“The purpose of life is to live and let us live, each resident of the region is responsible for his or her own life first and second for the life of the next person, let us change our behaviour, let us police ourselves voluntarily and willingly and adhere to all the protocols of preventing the spread of the virus,” he said.
The governor thanked the Mariental business community for their contribution towards the fight against COVID-19.
“On behalf of the government and the inhabitants of this region we are very grateful for the good gesture you have shown, your contribution matters,” said April.
Acting Hardap health director, Dr Berrit Platt said the renovation of the outpatient ward which previously burned down will boost the isolation capacity at the town from 12 to 37 beds.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
