While this means that trials that were halted on Tuesday can now continue, WHO officials say that it is unlikely the vaccine will be ready for use by the end of the year
The last case of wild poliovirus in the region was detected in 2016 in Nigeria. Since 1996, polio eradication efforts have prevented up to 1.8 million children from crippling life-long paralysis and saved approximately 180,000 lives. The viral disease is transmitted from person to person, mainly through a faecal-oral route or, less frequently, through contaminated water or food, and multiplies inside the intestines.
The six cases were part of 2,048 samples that were tested yesterday for the disease. Four of the confirmed cases were contacts from Busia, Malaba,Amuru and Kyotera district while two cases are from the Mutukula and Malaba points of entry.
The six cases that were reported were part of 3,451 samples that were tested yesterday. Four of the confirmed cases are truck drivers who entered the country through the Malaba Point of entry while two are community cases from Moyo and Tororo districts
Data from the WHO shows that it took 12 weeks for the world to reach 400,000 cases of COVID-19. There have now been 11.4 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 535,000 deaths reported. As of today, 200,000 COVID-19 cases are being reported every day, across the world.
In a statement released today, the health agency said that the decision to stop the use of the drugs comes from a recommendation made by the Solidarity Trial’s International Steering Committee to discontinue the use of the drugs because they do not have any effect on hospitalised patients.
11 of the cases were from samples picked from truck drivers at different points of entry while five cases were picked from contacts in Amuru and Namulindwa.
Uganda has in recent weeks received nationals from India, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Rome, Iceland, Ireland and Egypt, many of whom were stuck in the countries when the airports were closed. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, around 2,400 Ugandans are expected to travel back into the country.
Despite the low number of recorded cases, health officials say that people should not think that the disease is being defeated. Dr Monica Musenero, an epidemiologist and a senior presidential advisor on epidemics says that the country is yet to feel the impact of the disease.
The Ebola outbreak which began in August 2018 in eastern DRC, has claimed the lives of 2,300 people. A total of 3,500 people were infected with 1,200 recoveries being reported. The Ebola hemorrhagic fever is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads through human to human contact.
This comes after pockets of positive cases were detected in different parts of the country with new community cases reported in parts of Jinja, Kampala, Kyotera, Amuru and Entebbe. To date, 770 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the country.
The Africa Regional Certification Commission(ARCC), an independent body responsible for certifying the eradication of wild poliovirus in Africa, on behalf of the World Health Organisation- WHO, today said that it would make its final decision about the region's wild polio virus status in August 2020.
Nine of the confirmed cases were picked from alerts and contacts of already confirmed cases in the areas of Kampala, Kyotera and Nebbi while five of the cases were picked from points of entry in Busia, Mirama Hills, Bunagana and Lia. An additional 27 foreign truck drivers who tested positive were sent back to their countries of origin.
Five of the cases are contacts of previously confirmed cases from Kyotera and Amuru districts, while four of the cases are truck drivers who were detected from the Malaba and Elegu points of entry. Additionally, 31 foreign truck drivers who tested positive were sent back to their countries of origin.
Four of the cases were picked from points of entry while another four were from alerts in the community; two from Kyotera, one from Kayunga and one from Amuru district. The country's total confirmed cases stands at 665, out of which 546 remain active in hospitals across the country.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the COVID-19 Technical Leader at WHO says the new guidelines on masks should be followed because they offer better protection against COVID-19.
The leaders made the call during the Global Vaccine Summit that begun today in London.
According to the leaders, all vaccines should be made available for all countries equally without considering the country of origin where the vaccines are made.
