Location: Namibia (countrywide)
Event: The Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services has confirmed 13 cases of COVID-19 in Namibia.
On April 1, 2020 over 40 American citizens departed Namibia successfully on a U.S. Embassy-arranged special commercial flight to Lusaka, where they will connect to an Ethiopian Airlines commercial flight through Addis Ababa and on to the United States.
Other diplomatic missions in Windhoek are arranging flights for Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4, and there may be seats available for U.S. citizens. We expect these flights will be the last opportunities for the foreseeable future to repatriate U.S. citizens seeking to depart Namibia. The April 3 flight will fly to Frankfurt and allow travelers to transfer to a commercial airline for onward travel. The April 4 flight will fly to Lusaka and allow travelers to transfer to an Ethiopian Airlines commercial flight with available routing back to the United States.
If you are interested in the April 3 or April 4 flights, please contact the Consular Section immediately by replying to this email. Please indicate if you are interested the April 3 flight, the April 4 flight, or either of them. For the April 3 flight, we must have all information by 11am on Thursday, April 2.
We will coordinate with interested individuals and the diplomatic mission organizing the flight on all necessary details. If you have not done so, please fill out the Repatriation Form immediately.
There will be limited availability of seats on both flights. If seats are made available to U.S. citizens, they will be 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.
If you are not in the Khomas Region, the Embassy has a procedure, working with the Namibian government, to allow U.S. citizens to come to Windhoek during the lockdown in order to join a repatriation flight. If you are not in Windhoek and want to join a repatriation flight, we recommend that you return to Windhoek as soon as possible. Please contact the Consular Section by replying to this email and requesting assistance in receiving authorization from the Namibian government to return to Windhoek.
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.
Actions to Take:
- Consult the CDC website for the most up-to-date information.
- For the most recent information on what you can do to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19, please see the CDC’s latest recommendations.
- Visit the COVID-19 crisis page on travel.state.gov for the latest information.
- Check with your airlines, cruise lines, or travel operators regarding any updated information about your travel plans and/or restrictions.
- Visit our Embassy webpage on COVID-19 for information on conditions in Namibia.
- Visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website on the latest travel restrictions to the United States
Assistance:
- U.S. Embassy Windhoek, Namibia
14 Lossen St., Ausspannplatz, Windhoek
+264-61-295-8522; +264-85-686-0853 (U.S. citizen emergencies after hours)
ConsularWindhoek@state.gov
https://na.usembassy.gov/ - State Department – Consular Affairs
888-407-4747 202-501-4444 - Namibia Country Information
- Enroll in Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts.
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