Covid – 19 Screening Station

Screening Station Heroes

The Oranjemund COVID-19 screening station was set up to fulfil three different objectives:

1. Enable a basic health check to be performed on anyone entering or leaving the town

2. Ensure that anyone entering Oranjemund from a COVID-19 hotspot, such as Erongo Region or Windhoek immediately undergoes a period of self-isolation

3. Monitor the movement of delivery vehicles to ensure that once their supplies have been dropped off they immediately leave the town.

These measures combined with diligent behaviour from local residents and businesses successfully prevented COVID-19 from entering Oranjemund for many months.

Our community is indebted to the following volunteers and MOHSS Health Extension Workers who were on the frontline managing the screening station with professionalism throughout the time that it was operational:

Josephine Jossop (MOHSS) Peter Kapuka (MOHSS) Ursula Ndalipale (MOHSS) Williem Kayongo (MOHSS) Angelo Kooper (Volunteer) Emmericia Ndalipale (Volunteer) Hilarous Ingashipola (Volunteer) Lena Mbulu (Volunteer) Mary Jossop (Volunteer) Vuvaio Mayumbelo (Volunteer)

Thank you to all of you for helping to keep our town safe.

We invited four of our ‘Local Heroes’ to offer their own insights into the importance of their roles and also asked them what messages they would like to pass onto Oranjemund community members in relation to COVID-19. Here are their responses:

 Emmericia Ndalipale ‘The screening station is important for the safety of our community as it can help to detect someone with the virus before they enter. Oranjemund is a very small town and this virus could easily wipe out many people in the town. Everyone, please stay safe, wash your hands regularly and wear a mask at all times when in public places.’

Josephine Jossop ‘The screening point is here to collect data in case there is a need to carry out contact tracing of any positive cases. My message to the community is that everyone should wear their masks at all times when out in public spaces, wash and sanitise your hands often and practice social distancing.

Williem Kanyonga – ‘The screening station has really helped the MOHSS and other stakeholders such as OTC. If there is a case outbreak, they will be able to carry out proper contact tracing. Our community should follow all the protocols for COVID-19. If this does not happen and everyone becomes sick, it will really have a bad effect on the productivity of the town. I would like to encourage stakeholders to come together and supply masks at an affordable price for people who are not earning an income now. I would also like to urge the community to consume alcohol responsibly and within the guidelines.’

Vuvaio Mayumbola – ‘The screening station is vital to the safety of
Oranjemund. We have a small population and
without the screening station we might let
someone in that is a positive COVID-19 case.
The community should understand the
importance of wearing their masks, must
always practice social distancing and follow the
government rules and regulations. Always
remember to sanitise regularly.’