COVID-19 Emergency Support 3rd Wave Namibia (3rdWaveNAM), July – December 2021

On request, RKI supported the Namibia partners during the third wave of COVID-19, which was by far the highest in Namibia resulting in a high number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients and high case fatality rates. In June 2021, it was unclear how long Namibia would be able to effectively manage their COVID-19 response. The objectives of the project were to minimise the number of deaths and to enable the country to respond faster and better to future COVID-19 waves.

In May and June 2021, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Namibia increased exponentially from about 2,000 to over 10,000 new cases per week in a population of about 2.5 million. This third wave of COVID-19 became by far the highest in Namibia to date. The epicentre was the central Khomas region, where the densely populated capital Windhoek is located. The number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients there exceeded the capacity of most hospitals, resulting in a sharp increase in case fatality rates. In June 2021, it was unclear how long Namibia would be able to effectively manage their COVID-19 response.

In this situation, the Namibian Ministry of Health & Social Services (MoHSS) approached its Twinning project partner, the Robert Koch Institute, with a request for support. In response to this request, the four units of the Centre for International Health Protection (ZIG) developed an emergency project together with the MoHSS, the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the Research Centre Borstel (FZB). The title of the project was “COVID-19 Emergency Support 3rd Wave Namibia” (3rdWaveNam). It was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) as part of the Global Health Protection Programme (GHPP) and jointly led by the RKI departments ZIG 1, Information Centre for International Health Protection, and ZIG 4, Public Health Laboratory Support. The overall objective of the project was to support Namibia to cope with the third COVID-19 wave and to minimise the number of deaths. It also aimed to enable the country to respond faster and better to future COVID-19 waves.

• 1. Expansion of laboratory testing capacities including sequencing technologies to detect circulating variants of concern (VOCs)

  Through the procurement of consumables and equipment provided to UNAM, PCR testing was carried out on approximately 25,000 samples. PCR typing of circulating VOCs was introduced in Namibia and implemented at UNAM. ZIG 4 supported this with the implementation and training of typing assays. Genomic sequencing of about 100 SARS-CoV-2 positive samples enabled by this project became critical with the emergence of the Omicron variant in late November 2021. PCR typing and sequencing enabled Namibia to rapidly assess the epidemiological Omicron situation. Travel restrictions imposed by many countries in late 2021 and early 2022 depended on these sequencing results.

• 2. Supporting clinical management of critically ill COVID-19 patients

  When the German Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) were supposed to travel to Namibia in late July/beginning of August 2021, the country had been declared a variants of concern region, which meant that EMT members would have had to undergo a two-week self-quarantine after completing their missions. Therefore, the decision was made to hold five online seminars on the clinical treatment of severely ill COVID-19 patients, which were conducted at the end of 2021. Participants were medical staff involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Namibia. Many of the ventilators donated during the third wave could not be used to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients because smaller equipment and materials such as oxygen meters and ventilation masks were missing. The project was able to fill this gap with the procurement of 3,000 CPAP/BiPAP masks and 1,500 oxygen flow meters, which were distributed by the MoHSS to hospitals in need across the country.

• 3. Support in overcoming COVID vaccination hesitancy

  In late 2021, ZIG 2 conducted a household knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) survey on COVID-19 vaccination preparedness in the Khomas, ǁKharas and Zambezi regions of Namibia, with a total of 1,276 adults participating. The findings and recommendations were presented to support the Namibian government to (1) address behavioural/social factors that hinder vaccine uptake and (2) design contextualised vaccination campaigns based on science and evidence.

Funded by the GHPP, the RKI’s ZIG was able to respond to Namibia’s official request for support. A needs-based, tailored COVID-19 pandemic support was developed for Namibia. This was possible through the well-established working relationships with partners in Germany and Namibia due to the Namibia-RKI Twinning Project (TwiNit) already in place, and through the use of existing resources and mechanisms. 

However, the third COVID-19 wave developed so quickly in Namibia that it already ended in late August 2021 after an extremely critical situation in June/July. As a result, much of the emergency aid provided by the project was not delivered until after the end of the third COVID-19 wave.

Nevertheless, the support provided was important for the response to the fourth wave (Omikron variant) starting in November/December 2021 and for the preparation of future COVID-19 waves.

Date: December 2022