Dr Ronald Reagan Mutebi, who is supervising the exercise says that the nine cases are among 2,016 people who were tested in the ongoing community surveillance and testing exercise, which started on May 19, 2020. 1,986 of those tested are Ugandans and mostly residents of Kasensero Town Council and travellers while 30 are Tanzanian nationals.
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Doctors and other health workers screening Kasensero residents in a tent.
The number of COVID-19 positive
cases from Kasensero Landing Site, Kyotera district has
reached nine. Eight of the cases are Ugandans while the ninth is a
Tanzanian, all tested as part of the ongoing community survey.
Dr
Ronald Reagan
Mutebi, who is supervising the exercise says that the nine cases are
among 2,016 people who were tested in the ongoing community surveillance
and testing exercise, which started on May 19, 2020. 1,986 of those
tested are Ugandans and mostly residents of Kasensero Town Council and
travellers while 30 are Tanzanian nationals.
According
to Dr Mutebi,
four patients have been transferred to Entebbe Hospital and the rest to
Mbarara Hospital. He explains that transferring patients is the best
alternative
due to lack of isolation and treatment centres at Kasensero, yet Masaka,
the nearest Hospital is currently filled to capacity. He says that they have tried engaging Kasensero
Town Council and Kyotera district authorities to establish a quarantine and
isolation centre in vain.
He,, however, says floods
are hindering the transportation of patients to the treatment centres and
samples to Mutukula. River Kibaale in Rakai district and River Bukoola in
Kyotera burst their banks and cut off Kyapa-Kasensero road making it difficult for
pedestrians, motorists and other vehicles to cross.
Mark Jjuuko, the in-Charge
of the Treatment Center at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, says they can no
longer admit any more patients until they get sufficient space. He says they have plans
to expand the 22-bed-capacity unit to accommodate and treat more patients. Musa
Bwanika Mutima, the Kasensero Central Cell LC III Chairperson, says some of the
patient’s contacts are within the town council.
He appeals to the health officials
to quickly identify the contacts and isolate them before it is too late. Testing of residents at
Nangoma Island Sub-county is expected to start today, according to Mutebi. However,
due to the lack of an isolation centre, the health team is pushing suspects
into self-isolation as they find a solution.
Kasensero and Nangoma
are considered high-risk areas because they are easily accessed by Tanzanians,
where a considerable number of Covid-19 cases have been registered. According
to Dr Diana Atwine, the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, they resorted to
the mass testing because Kasensero residents were openly sailing to Tanzania
for businesses amidst the lockdown.
Maj David Matovu, the
Kyotera Resident District Commissioner, says they are collaborating with local
leaders in Nangoma Sub County to ease the testing exercise. In the
meantime, the health authorities in collaboration with the local leaders at
Kasensero landing site is conducting an operation to identify all contacts of
the nine patients to put them in isolation. Uganda has registered
413 confirmed Covid19 cases.
Davis Buyondo
Freelancer