Space for quarantine patients runs out

A file photo of a health worker preparing to transport Covid-19 patients to a health center

KAMPALA- The quarantine centres for suspected Covid-19 patients are full to capacity and thus no more people will be admitted, the Ministry of Health has revealed.

Dr Richard Mugahi, who is in charge of quarantine facilities at the Ministry of Health, said they are focusing on allowing the numbers that they can accommodate at a time but added that there will be a second and third phase for more admissions when there is space.

“They (quarantine centres) are not congested but they are full, we have a certain capacity, our capacity is 200 patients for public centres. Most people who were returning, especially from UAE were not able to pay for themselves.

We needed a number we can manage very well. Everyone has their own room so there is no congestion and that is why we are not taking in anymore,” Dr Mugahi said yesterday.

Dr Mugahi further added, “We need capacity to supervise and monitor them, so we think the number of about 800 patients is what we can manage at a time. We shall have three waves, so this is wave one, we shall have the second wave and third. They will all be finished,”

Currently there are about 800 returnees currently under quarantine, according to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs last week halted repatriation of stranded Ugandans with the intention to control congestion in quarantine facilities, however, the return of Ugandans will resume after health officials have attended to those in quarantine centres.

Ministry of Health said there is still space in quarantine centres for the high risk individuals within the country.
“We divided our quarantine centres, so one wing or block is for the locals because the internal ones are few. Our internal ones come from contacts and we have fewer positive cases internally,” Dr Mugahi said.
Currently, there are close to 2,000 people under quarantine with 953 covid-19 cases with 892 recoveries and zero deaths.