Covid kills 25 people in one day
A health team buries a body of person who succumbed to Covid-19 in Jinja District recently. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Government noted that the rate of spreading has increased with one person infecting between 10 and 15 people
Uganda has registered 25 deaths, the highest ever recorded in a day, bringing the total number to 459.
Ministry of Health data released yesterday shows that tests carried out on June 13 indicate that the country recorded a total of 64,521 Covid-19 cases with at least 920 patients admitted to hospitals across the country with 48,480 recoveries. The test positivity rate stands at 21.5 per cent.
The country registered 71 deaths in one week.
Dr Charles Olaro, the director curative services at Ministry of Health, yesterday said the population became reluctant on observing standard operating procedures.
With the pandemic in the second wave, experts say the infection rate has increased, which risks straining the healthcare system.
Dr Monica Musenero, the senior presidential adviser on epidemics, said one infected person can infect 10 to 15 people .
“The general situation is getting out of hand, there are places where the rate of infection is so high that if you picked any five people, two or more of them would be positive. Covid works by multiplying numbers,” Dr Musenero said.
“Our reproductive number (RO) is very high in that one person is generating 10 to 15 new cases instead of when one person generates only one case. That means the cases grow and we are reaching where Covid does its greatest havoc,” she added.
Dr Musenero said the increase in transmissions indicates that interventions are not effective.
Asked on the number of new infections one person can generate, Dr Musenero added: “It is above four. So we multiply by four the number of cases every week. Some may generate none, some less than four and some more than four. With poor control, the number goes beyond.”
Dr Musenero said the RO is currently around 3.5 to 4.5 because the testing is low and thus could be much likely higher.
She added that when the RO is less than one, it means the disease is being controlled and thus a higher chance of eliminating the virus.
When the RO is greater than one, it means the epidemic is going to expand and the larger the number, the faster the growth.
Statistics from the Health ministry also indicate that one person is likely to infect between 80 to 100 people.
Dr Musenero said government closed places that attract large gatherings because the RO is above the number of those likely to be infected by one person .
“It is possible. That number is technical and indicative but one person could even infect more if they are in super spreader environment,” she said.
Some health facilities handling Covid-19 cases are already stretched.
