Italy returnee quarantined at Mbale hospital

Two residents of Mbale Municipality in Mbale District in eastern Uganda have been quarantined at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital for monitoring after they returned from countries that have reported cases of coronavirus.
The District Health Officer (DHO), Dr Jonathan Wangisi on Tuesday evening said the two victims are currently quarantined at Municipal health center II which has been turned into isolation centre for Mbale regional referral hospital.

“The two victims are currently quarantined at Mbale main hospital in an isolated ward, which has been established and we are closely monitoring them. All have signs of coronavirus,” Dr Wangisi said.
Dr Wangisi said one suspected patient returned from Italy days ago and had been isolated himself at Crown Suites Hotel in Mbale Town, where he was picked by police and health officials after they were alerted by one of the workers at the hotel.
The second victim and resident of Namatala ward reportedly returned from Kenya last week and had symptoms of the coronavirus.

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“We were alerted by community members after he exhibited signs and symptoms of dry cough, fever, sneezing and among others,” he said.
Mr Wangisi said they had taken samples of their blood and swabbed specimens to Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) in Entebbe for testing.
“We have taken their samples for specialized analysis,” he said.
He, however, asked the ministry of health to dispatch protective gear for health workers and other necessary requirements to equip health centres to handle the pandemic.
“Even the isolation centre needs to be equipped to handle the cases effectively,” he said.

Dr Emmanuel Tugaineyo, the director of Mbale referral hospital said eastern region is at high risk of the disease because of the porous border points with Kenya, especially in Busia, Tororo and Namisindwa districts.
Authorities in the border districts of Busia, Tororo, Namisindwa and Amudat in Karamoja Sub- region have ordered for the closure of ungazzetted routes.
This came after reports indicated that some Ugandans and foreigners mostly from Kenya, where cases COVID 19, have been confirmed, were reportedly entering into Uganda using illegal entry borders points for fear of going through mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

“We need to do more to prevent the spread of the disease. We should stop people from crossing into the country through the ungazzetted points. The health workers also need protective gear and other equipment needed in handling the victims,” he said.
Mbale RDC, Mr Baraza Ogajo, said the government is determined to use all reasonable means to defeat the disease.

He added that security personnel had been deployed to man all border points including ungazzated ones as preventative measure against the virus.
This development comes after the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng announced eight new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country to nine.