Panic in Kasese, Kakumiro as first community Covid-19 case is reported
This photo taken on June 26, 2020 shows security personnel deployed to hunt for Covid-19 patient in Kasese District where he had allegedly gone into hiding. Photos by Enid Ninsiima
What you need to know:
- This becomes the second person to be picked from Kasese and the third to be treated in the Rwenzori sub-region. The previous two cases have been admitted to Fort Portal regional referral hospital.
Residents in the western districts of Kasese and Kakumiro have been left in panic following a joint operation by the security team and health workers in which they traced and recovered a Covid-19 patient.
The 30-year-old patient had allegedly been hiding in Kasese after escaping from Kakumiro District where he tested positive for the virus on Wednesday.
He was among the 16 cases confirmed out of the 3,455 samples tested on June 24.
The Kakumiro Resident District Commissioner, Mr Apollo Mugume told Daily Monitor that the patient who had travelled from Kasese with intentions of starting a non-governmental organization in Kakumiro town council was subjected to a Covid-19 and had his samples taken on June 17 after the taskforce got suspicious.
After taking his samples, he chose to self-quarantine.
The Kasese District Surveillance Officer, Mr Samuel Kabinga on Friday appealed to the residents who had interacted with the patient to report themselves for proper medical management.
“If you know that you interacted with him, come out and give your contacts for help because voluntary check is the best now,” Mr Kabinga said.
A health worker disinfects where the patient was found
Mr Kabinga revealed that the patient is a resident of Mumbuzi cell in Nyakasanga II ward, Kasese town but he was tested in Kakumiro District.
“I received a phone call yesterday (Thursday) from Kakumiro that his results tested positive. I alerted security and for the whole night we have been tracing for him until today morning (Friday) when we found him at Muyenga (an uptown residential area of Kasese town), we have taken him to Bwera hospital as we wait for (Fort Portal) regional referral hospital for treatment” Kabinga said.
Mr Kabinga said the patient looked normal and wondered where he got infected from.
One of the residents, Ms Janet Biira expressed fear that more infected people could have sneaked into the district and were silently infecting others.
“I am scared now that men have started coming back to their homes and this puts women and children at high risk since they can’t deny their family heads access to the homes,” Ms Biira said.
This becomes the second person to be picked from Kasese and the third to be treated in the Rwenzori sub-region. The previous two cases have been admitted to Fort Portal regional referral hospital.
“We have two accumulative covid-19 cases in Kasese but this is the first community case,” Mr Kabinga said before adding that the first one was a prisoner in DR Congo.
