Kampala new Covid-19 hotspot, arcades risk closure
Kampala- Government has warned the public that the Covid-19 situation will worsen and might lead the affected areas into lockdown to protect the lives of the most vulnerable city dwellers should the public continue to ignore compliance to guidelines to stop the disease.
Currently, Kampala is the new hotspot for Covid-19 infections and deaths following the easing of the lockdown in June.
Kampala Affairs minister Betty Amongi said Kampala has registered 394 Covid-19 infections, accounting for 22.5 per cent of the country’s total.
“Kampala now has recorded 221 active cases, whereas the whole country has 537 active cases, representing 41.2 per cent. Majority of all Covid-19 deaths registered in the country are from Kampala,” Ms Amongi said on Friday.
She said a number of people are not following the guidelines and are not seeking medical help when showing Covid-19 symptoms, which has led to some of the cases being confirmed to have the disease after death.
Government has issued a seven-day ultimatum to 58 arcades to ensure full compliance to Covid-19 guidelines or risk being closed.
Some of the arcades include Mini Price centre, Arro complex, Masaka Jubilee, King Fahd, among others.
Kampala registered its first Covid-19-related death on March 23, hitting its next hundred on July 31.
In just 11 days, Kampala has registered 175 cases, out of which 116 are alerts, 46 contacts, nine health workers, and four returnees.
“From this, it took us four months for Kampala to hit 100 cases, 10 days to hit 200 cases, yet in less than five days, we’re closing in on the 400 mark. The increase in cases is of great concern. Information from Ministry of Health shows that Kampala has hit new record of 75 cases as of August 20,” Ms Amongi said.
Central Division has registered 50 new infections, Nakawa 90, Makindye 85, Kawempe 43, and Rubaga 96.
Mr Henry Mwebesa, the director general of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, on Thursday said the spike in new cases in Kampala is evident that the rate of community transmission is high.
Ministry of Health has called upon the public to wear facemasks properly at all times, practise good hand washing, ensure social distancing whenever in public.
