President Hage Geingob yesterday announced that all restrictions imposed on account of COVID-19 have been removed, saying Namibia is now at a stage where it can significantly lower the scale of investing in the fight against COVID-19.

Speaking at the 45th COVID-19 briefing here, Geingob said it is now time to build back the country’s socio-economic infrastructure from the untold devastation of COVID-19.

The president, however, cautioned and encouraged Namibians to voluntarily comply with public health and social measures, stressing that good hand hygiene should become part of the new normal.

“I am the first to admit that our country traversed a difficult 26 months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4 060 precious lives have been lost and a cumulative number of 169 400 Namibians were infected by COVID-19. There is no doubt that the physical and emotional toll of what we went through as a nation will remain a scar that will be felt for many years to come,” he said.

Geingob noted that COVID-19 necessitated lockdowns with far-reaching implications on Namibia’s economy, where companies closed down and supply chain disruptions experienced which further resulted in many people losing their jobs.

He indicated that Government would intensify the vaccination campaign, noting that it still believes that vaccination is necessary to protect the nation against any outbreak of new variants of COVID-19.

Geingob also announced that daily COVID-19 updates will be discontinued – the public will be briefed weekly on the situation, every Thursday, at the Government Information Centre by the Ministry of Health and Social Service

Source: The Namibian Press Agency