Nangombe defends ‘white elephant’ Covid hospital

Patients at a tent hospital near Windhoek Central Hospital, initially erected for Covid-19 cases, endure freezing winter evenings with winds gusting in through the open door. The floor is covered in dirt and dirty linen is piled in corners, while medical waste is parked just metres from the entrance.

These patients were relocated from the Katutura Intermediate Hospital to make way for renovations there, which are currently in full swing.

Adjacent to this makeshift tent hospital, a state-of-the-art prefabricated Covid-19 hospital stands idle, with gates locked and two security guards on duty. According to them, the facility is reserved exclusively for Covid-19 patients.

Health ministry executive director Ben Nangombe defended the tent hospital, saying there is no evidence that patients have become sicker due to the open door. "Patients in the field hospital are stable. I am currently in Swakopmund and need to engage the superintendent. Everything is contextual. I don't know why the door is open, whether there are efforts to fix it, or if it is broken. For individuals to claim that the situation worsened because of the open door... there might not be a causal link. We had to accommodate people somewhere because the [Katutura] hospital is under renovations. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?"

Regarding the idle prefabricated hospital, Nangombe explained that it is used for isolating infectious disease cases, which occur daily. "The other facility is used for other categories, including other infectious diseases. Some rooms are set aside for isolation purposes, such as measles outbreaks and Mpox. The information I received three or four weeks ago indicated that there were patients, but they may now be discharged," he added.