Namibia: New amendments to the Public Health Covid-19 regulations!

Namibia's Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, has announced during a Covid-19 briefing on 23 December 2020, that the Government of Namibia has amended the measures to address the second Covid-19 wave. According to the Minister, the following amendments are getting introduced to the Public Health Regulations, which were gazetted and came into force on 16 December 2020. These nrew measures take effect today, the 23 December 2020 at 23:59 until the 13 January 2021 at 24:00.

• Public gatherings
  Public gatherings will be limited to a maximum of fifty (50) persons per event. Organizers or hosts of public gatherings shall keep Registers of attendance, recording names and contact numbers. The organisers must ensure that attendees sanitize their hands, wear masks properly and maintain a distance of not less than 1.5 meters.
• Restriction of movement
  Restriction of movement is imposed between 21:00 and 04:00 for the duration of this period until the 13 January 2021.
• Sale of alcohol
  Sale of alcohol and trading hours operations for on-site consumption (shebeens, bars, nightclubs, gambling houses, casinos and restaurants) is allowed from 09:00-20:00 Mondays to Saturdays. No sale of alcohol is allowed on Sundays and Public Holidays.
• Compulsory correct wearing of face masks
  Wearing of face mask is compulsory for all persons when in public places, including in vehicles, aircraft and other means of public transport. 
• Business premises and operations
  All businesses, including informal markets, are required to ensure that all their patrons or persons present in their premises sanitize their hands with alcohol-based hand sanitisers, alternatively, they wash their hands with soap and water.
  

• Burial of Persons who succumb to COVID 19
  The period within which the human remains of persons whose deaths are attributed to Covid-19 is revised from 72 hours to seven days. This is in keeping with our commitment to ensure that families are able to mourn and give their loved ones dignified burials. Such burials must be conducted in line with strict requirements for effective infection control and prevention in order to reduce the risk of infection.
• Validity period of Covid-19 PCR test results for travel purposes
  It has been a requirement that to be allowed entry into the country, non-Namibian travellers should present a negative COVID 19 test result that is not older than 72 hours. The period of 72 hours is reckoned from the time the sample was taken. This period of validity is now extended to a period of seven days.
• Penalties
  The Public and Environmental Health Act makes provision for stiff penalties in the event of a transgression of its provisions. The maximum penalty under this Act is N$100 000 or 10 years imprisonment. The Minister of Justice will elaborate on this aspect.