Residents of Henties Bay in the Erongo region say the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is definitely hitting them harder than the previous two.
Former Henties Bay mayor Herman /Honeb last week said residents are now realising the virus is real as they hear of residents infected and dying.
He said during the first outbreak of the pandemic the town felt excluded as it experienced a great need for hospital beds, medicine and human resources, which is currently being addressed.
/Honeb says besides the message to wearing masks, sanitise and keep a distance, the Ministry of Health and Social Services needs to emphasise the importance of every individual to boost their immune system.
“Compliance to these measures is not foolproof. Henties Bay is a small community, people greet each other a lot and talk. So, when your mask fails you, at least your immune system must be strong,” he says.
Residents are this year seeing the sporadic closure of institutions and private doctors’ practices for disinfecting after the detection of Covid-10-positive cases.
This includes the Henties Bay municipality and ErongoRED.
Henties Bay, located about 70 km north of Swakopmund, finds itself isolated with low access to health services.
Until last month the town’s residents did not have a Covid-19 testing facility, forcing them to travel to Swakopmund.
“If you or someone close to you had symptoms of Covid-19, your first worry was: How do I get that person to Swakopmund? But last week we got tested here at Henties Bay, and I took my whole family,” Elias !Nanuseb says.
The town’s deputy mayor, Michael Skini, says another concern is that test results, accumulated deaths, hospitalisation and vaccinations are not reported independently for Henties Bay, but are included in Swakopmund’s figures.
“We are not happy about this trend. I believe it contributes to the don’t-care attitude of the residents. If they could have seen the town’s own numbers, perhaps there would have been an attitude change,” he says.
Erongo region health director Anna Jonas says the health directorate has four reporting districts: Omaruru, Usakos, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, with Henties Bay and Arandis both falling under Swakopmund.
Residents can get vaccinated at the Henties Bay Clinic, although it currently only provides second vaccine doses due to insufficient stock.
People needing first vaccine doses are currently placed on waiting lists.
Jonas says a mobile health outreach team visits the town biweekly to provide services.