The Namibian
Ministry of Health and Social Services has confirmed 8 cases of COVID-19 in
Namibia.
The Department of State has issued a Global
Level 4 Health Advisory for COVID-19, and the Centers for Disease Control
issued on March 27, 2002 a global Warning Level 3 Travel Health Notice to avoid
nonessential international travel.
To date, we have not received confirmation that any
seats will be available on flights being arranged by European diplomatic
missions from Windhoek to Europe. There are a large number of EU citizens
waiting for these flights, and U.S. citizens would be considered only on a
space available basis once all EU citizens seeking repatriation have been
accommodated. If we are informed of available seats, we will share that
information immediately via email. Please be advised that it will be very
short notice to depart – likely the same day.
The U.S. Embassy in Windhoek separately is working to
finalize details for a special commercial flight from Windhoek to Lusaka.
The capacity of this flight is 50 people, and the airline requires a minimum of
48 confirmed passengers in order to move forward with the flight. If you
have not confirmed to us that you would like to be included on this flight,
please do so now. This is the only flight that the Embassy has scheduled
at this time. Should you not take this flight, you should plan to remain
in Namibia for the foreseeable future.
This flight will take passengers to Lusaka, Zambia,
after which passengers would continue to the United States on Ethiopian
Airlines via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We are working closely with our U.S.
Embassies in Zambia and in Ethiopia and with Ethiopian Airlines to ensure that
commercial options with sufficient seats remain available for those interested
in these flights. Ethiopian Air is holding a block of seats for American
citizens on a flight from Lusaka through Addis Ababa to Dulles, VA. If
individual passengers would like to work with Ethiopian Airlines to select
another destination, they have flights available from Addis Ababa to Newark,
New York, Houston, and Chicago.
We anticipate that the flight to Lusaka will be departing
Windhoek early this week. It is possible that you would be notified of
space on a flight the day before or the same day of the flight. If you
are interested in being included in a repatriation flight and have not yet done
so, please fill out this Repatriation
Form immediately for each individual who would be interested in a
repatriation flight. If you have already filled out this form, there is
no need to fill it out again.
Seats on repatriation flights are offered first to
official U.S. government personnel and their dependents, U.S. citizens at
higher risk from COVID-19, U.S. citizen minors and their family members, and
adult U.S. citizens in need of medical assistance who do not fall into a higher
priority group, in that order. After these priority boarding groups are
accommodated, seats will be offered to U.S. citizens, dependents of U.S.
citizens, and other eligible persons, in that order.
We are in touch with the Namibian Government regarding
the current travel restrictions in place in the Erongo and Khomas regions, as
we realize that some of you are not currently located in Khomas. We have
been informed that the National Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss what
documentation will be needed for individuals to be granted entry to Khomas for
the purpose of joining a repatriation flight. We will share this
information as soon as we receive it.
Interested parties should verify that their passports
and other documentation are current and valid for at least six months from
today’s date. For emergency American Citizen Services, including
emergency passports, please visit our website for additional information at https://na.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/
Actions to Take:
Assistance:
- U.S.
Embassy Windhoek, Namibia
State
Department - Consular Affairs
- 888-407-4747
202-501-4444
Namibia
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