The Namibian government is doing its best to resolve the current shortage of oxygen in hospitals, opposition leader McHenry Venaani said on Monday.
On his social media platform, Venaani said he had held a teleconference meeting with Namibian President Hage Geingob about the oxygen crisis.
"President [Hage Geingob] assured me that trucks carrying oxygen were held up at borders and have been released. Promised me he is pushing his end to resolve the crisis," Venaani said in a Twitter message.
This followed his earlier tweet in which he called on the government to explain the ongoing shortage of oxygen in hospitals.
"The situation of a lack of oxygen in our health facilities must be clarified and government must be answerable to the death of many. It is enough that we might not have the jabs, but pure oxygen cannot be acceptable," the president of the Popular Democratic Movement said earlier.
According to Namibian media reports, the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths were rising to levels never seen before.
Daily newspaper Namibian Sun reported on its social media platforms that Namibia’s Covid-19 battle was now characterised by critically ill patients “gasping for air” as they line up in desperate need of oxygen.
Six people who were vaccinated against Covid-19 have died since the third wave hit Namibia in May, the daily reported.
Despite the alarming Covid-19 situation in Namibia, daily newspaper New Era reported on Monday that the country has not yet detected the Delta Covid-19 variant that was first detected in India and has since spread to more than 80 countries.
The daily reported that Germany considers Namibia as an area of concern, with effect from Sunday, due to sharply rising Covid-19 cases and deaths in the previous weeks.
Two Covid-19 variants, the B.1.351 first detected in South Africa and the B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK, have been confirmed in Namibia, the daily quoted health spokesperson Ben Nangombe as saying.
Namibia has so far recorded 74 682 cases of Covid-19, with 1 164 deaths and 59 676 recoveries, and has administered 123 954 vaccine doses.
African News Agency (ANA)