Namibia has confirmed its first two cases of COVID-19. Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said Saturday that a Spanish couple who arrived in the country on Wednesday had both tested positive and have since been quarantined.

The news comes as Namibia prepares to mark a spate of national holidays. March 21 is celebrated as Namibia's Independence Day, while March 23 is marked throughout the SADC region as Southern African Liberation Day, commemorating the 1980's triumph of Angolan and Cuban forces over apartheid South Africa.

The government still intends to go ahead with Independence Day celebrations as planned despite the arrival of the novel coronavirus in the countrt, Shangula told reporters.