28 April, 2020 - Statement by Kosmas Egumbo, Group CEO of Old Mutual at the handover of 2 machines to expand COVID-19 testing capacity to the National Institute of Pathology.
Thank you very much for joining us this afternoon at Windhoek Central Reference Laboratory in Windhoek-North. I commend each one of you for adhering to the social distancing and hygiene protocols, which is essential for keeping us all safe.
The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a worldwide health crisis, it has brought about massive disruption to our lives and the economic implications of the pandemic are devastating to all sectors of the Namibian economy with some sectors impacted more than others. Our very way of life as well as making a living as we knew it before the COVID-19 outbreak has been impacted. We need to all be a part of fighting this pandemic and be disciplined in the execution of the mitigating measures that have been announced by our Government.
On 31 March 2020 Old Mutual pledged N$5 million to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia. We invited you here today to showcase the 2 machines that Old Mutual acquired for NIP to enhance this crucial institution’s COVID-19 testing capacity. You will recall that we have identified specific areas of financial support to be targeted by our pledge.
The first area of support goes towards the provision of food to the poor and vulnerable communities across all the 14 regions of our country and N$1 million was set aside for that. On 8 April 2020 we have handed over N$208 000, worth of frozen and dried food supplies to about 400 homeless individuals and families in Windhoek that have been identified through the lead ministry of the Government. We are currently in the process of facilitating handovers in the remaining 13 regions and will duly keep you informed.
The second area of our support is the expansion of COVID-19 testing capacity to the tune of N$2,7 million (Two million, seven hundred thousand Namibia Dollars). There are two components to this commitment:
The one component is N$1, 7 Million (One million seven hundred thousand Namibia Dollars) to acquire testing equipment, broaden scale of testing and the procurement of test kits. The second component is N$1 Million (One million Namibia Dollars) that will go towards strengthening contact tracing capacity.
We have considered this support package informed by experience gained and lessons learned from countries that have been fighting the impact of COVID-19. That experience reveal that large scale testing followed by effective tracing and isolation and treatment significantly contribute to early “flattening of the exponential infection curve” which will alleviate the pressure on our limited health facilities.
Today therefore, we are witnessing the realisation of our commitment by showing to the public the 2 machines and testing kits that have been received by the NIP, which is the national identified lead agency in this areas of COVID-19 testing efforts. These 2 machines/analysers were procured at a total cost of N$1.781 (One million seven hundred and eighty one thousand Namibia Dollars), delivered on 20 April 2020 and installed on 22 April 2020. These machines will be used to prepare the samples for testing, an important function that is currently being performed manually. The manual extraction of 48 samples takes anywhere between 4-5 hours by two individuals, each one doing 24 samples. With the automated extraction, in a normal eight hour shift, NIP will be able to extract 72 samples as one person can run both machines, taking 12 samples at a time. Part of this consignment paid for is some 42 testing kits that were to be delivered to NIP but 40 have not arrived yet due to stock shortages caused by high global demand. We expect these to arrive in the next few weeks.
The medical equipment, specifically the two called QIAcube Connect instruments that Old Mutual is handing over today to NIP have the capacity to extract twelve samples at a time, which will help NIP reach a new level of utility and efficiency when processing COVID-19 samples. Some of the key features and benefits of these instruments is that automations significantly reduces human error, improves standardization which gives rise to high quality yielding samples, enhances reproducibility and reduces hands on time.
Post COVID-19, NIP can still utilise these instruments for research purposes and will thus increase Namibia’s test repertoire. I am therefore confident that NIP’s medical technicians and researchers will optimise the use of these machinery to the fullest and we are looking forward to increase random testing as the NIP now has the capacity to do so. What has been demonstrated is that when Private and Public sector collaborate constructively de can deliver more efficiently. Within 3 weeks of announcement of the pledge the team from NIP and Old Mutual identified the required machined and got them delivered to NIP. We demonstrated that Together we can do great things. A big thank you to the teams that made it possible.
At the same time, we are continuing to engage our lead Ministry’s National Health Emergency Management Committee as our key partner, specifically the team leader of the surveillance team, in actualising the strengthening of Tracing Capacity as the second component of our support and execution in the coming days.
The third area of our support is the N$1,3 million of the N$5 million to the National Disaster Fund towards the payment of allowances to temporarily recruited health professionals to assist Government in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Health and Social Services has already commenced with the recruitment and some have started already. We are in constant engagement with the COVID-19 lead Ministry (Ministry of Health and Social Services) and we will update you on the execution progress in due course.
To the women and men on the frontlines in different areas of the fight against COVID-19, we at Old Mutual say thank you and we appreciate you. In particular, to our medial health professionals in every corner of our country who are at the forefront 24/7, risking their own lives while attending to the dire needs of a nation in medical crises - We Are Here For You.
COVID-19 is causing unprecedented volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the health, social and economic sectors. We can minimise the severity of the impact of COVID-19 on our livelihood if all sectors and individuals that make up the Namibian society collaborate and cooperate with laid down regulations so that we can restart economic activity. T he seriousness of the COVID-19 crisis calls for united and collaborative resolve on a massive scale in the development of response plans and the execution thereof.
Let’s hold hands, let’s collaborate, let’s commit ourselves to the greater good, let’s do great things every day.
I thank you and please do adhere to the regulations and laid down protocols at all times.