Joshua Masereka, the Kasese Deputy Resident District Commissioner, says to limit the infections, they are trying to limit the time people spend on burials as a measure of enforcing the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs.
Kasese District COVID-19 task force has directed that all burial ceremonies in the district take place
before mid-day.
This follows an upsurge of COVID-19 cases in the
district as the country battles the second wave of the pandemic.
Kasese
district has recorded more than 160 positive COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths since
the new wave began.
Last week alone, the district registered 72 cases with five
referrals. Joshua Masereka, the Kasese Deputy Resident District Commissioner,
says to limit the infections, they are trying to limit the time people spend on
burials as a measure of enforcing the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs.
He says that long burial ceremonies often attract high
numbers of people, allow a lot of time for interaction and violation of other
procedures like social distancing.
//Cue in: “Ours is to make…
Cue out: …on time.”//
Masereka says that the burial time restriction
applies to the funeral of COVID-19 victims and other people.
He says that security
will also monitor all burial proceedings to ensure there is compliance with all
SOPs.
//Cue in: “I have been…
Cue out: … district task force."//
Gregory Kombi, the Bwera Sub-county Chairperson LC
III has welcomed the directive noting that people have deliberately failed to
comply with the burial guidelines issued by the president.
//Cue in: “This is based…
Cue out: …with the RDC.”//
Jackeline Masika, a resident of Kasese questioned the
relevancy of the directive by the task force if the numbers of mourners have
already been restricted to 20 people.
He says close relatives from far
distant places are already barred from travelling to send off their loved ones.
