Mak starts testing for Covid-19
Test tubes lie on a table in a corona screening station in Ebersberg near Munich, southern Germany, on April 29. Makerere University to set to carry out testing for coronavirus. Photo by AFP
Makerere University has started testing for Covid-19 after the Ministry of Health (MOH) approved the university’s hospital lab to start conducting the tests.
The university has already released its first tests that were conducted during the community survey that revealed one Covid-19 positive patient from the community in Masindi District last week.
The MOH last week told Daily Monitor that it was in the final stages of accrediting the university hospital lab before allowing them to start testing for Covid-19.
The director general of health services at the MOH, Dr Henry Mwebesa, yesterday said the university has already started testing for Covid-19 after their lab met all the requirements.
“They are testing. They are the ones who even tested that man who tested positive in Masindi. For the time being, they are testing community samples in our ongoing survey because we did not want to mix tests,” Mr Mwebesa said.
He said with Makerere University on board, the pressure and work load on Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) that has been the only institute conducting the tests will be reduced.
The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, said the approval is testimony to the great capacity that has been built at the institution.
He said this would spur their research on Covid-19, something they started last month.
“This is a great millstone for Makerere University. This will give a chance to our researchers to get the tests themselves from the patients and research on how the virus affects different parts of the body,” Prof Nawangwe said.
The director of UVRI, Dr Pontiano Kaleebu, said if more labs are brought on board, many samples will be tested on a daily basis.
He said the MOH is yet to approve more labs across the country to decentralise the testing. “If Makerere has been brought on board, it is a good gesture. The more labs we have, the better,” Mr Kaleebu said.
Criteria for accrediting a lab.
According to Dr Kaleebu, the MOH looks at the setting of a lab and the equipments required to test for Covid-19.
He said the ministry also examines medical workers in a particular lab and their safety, asserting that the personal protective equipment (PPE) are very crucial since Covid-19 is a highly infectious disease.
Dr Kaleebu also said they look at how the lab disposes of remains from the test.
Once UVRI analyses all the above, it sends a panel of samples to that lab and observes how the tests are conducted and if the criteria are met, the lab is approved.
Background
Ministry of Health in collaboration with Makerere University undertook a countrywide rapid assessment survey last week to establish the possibility of community transmission of Covid-19.
The teams were slated to collect and test samples from 20,000 people and provide results by today (the May 4). Prof Moses Joloba, the head of laboratories at Makerere University and the team leader of those conducting the testing, said they have so far tested 601 samples from across the country during the ongoing community testing. He said that of the 601 samples they have tested, only 1 tested positive for Covid-19 while the other 600 are negative.
As of yesterday, Uganda had registered 88 Covid-19 cases after three people tested positive. Of the new cases, two were truck drivers from Kenya and Burundi while the third is of a 22-year-old Ugandan male from Rakai District who was among the 563 samples from the community.
