Govt reports drop in Covid cases, deaths
Uganda's health minister, Jane Ruth Aceng. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Six deaths were also reported last week compared to 14 deaths in the previous week.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health indicate that Covid-19 infections have dropped in the last seven days by 19 percent from the weekly average of 688 cases in the previous week to 558 cases.
The decline comes at a time when the country is struggling to recover from the severe impacts of the previous Covid-19 lockdown on livelihood and economic growth. Many families have also lost loved ones due to the disease.
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Our analysis of the data from the ministry found that the average test positivity rate has also declined to 3.9 percent from 4.2 percent in the previous week.
Test positivity rate refers to the percentage of positive cases detected in the total number of samples tested. It is essential in determining the extent of the spread of an infectious agent.
Any positivity rate under 5 percent indicates that the pandemic is under control, according to the Health ministry.
The ministry figures are very close to what the scientists at National Planning Authority (NPA) had projected last week.
The NPA scientists had projected that the Covid-19 cases would decline to an average of “590 new cases for the week ending June 25” , and that a “total of 557 new cases is projected for the week ending July 2.
Cause of decline
Dr Abraham Muwanguzi, the NPA lead scientist, told Monitor that cases would continue to decline because of “herd immunity” against Covid-19, increased coverage of Covid-19 vaccination and a less transmissible variant of the coronavirus.
Herd immunity is when a large part of the population of an area is immune to a specific disease either because of vaccination or past infection.
The information indicates that 74 percent of the 22 million Ugandans above 18 years have received at least one dose and 51 percent of the people in that category are fully vaccinated.
This means the government is yet to fully vaccinate 49 percent of the targeted population who are having partial protection and also to reach the 26 percent of the same population who are unvaccinated so as to effectively contain the pandemic.
The vaccination exercise started in March 2021 amid hesitancy and poor vaccine delivery which caused vaccine expiry and wastage.
Dr Misaki Wayengera, the head of scientists advising the government on Covid-19, said breakthrough infections are occurring because of waning protection from vaccines and new variants of the coronavirus which escape immune protection.
Vaccine protection lasts for around six months and hence the need for booster shots, according to the World Health Organisation.
Six deaths were also reported last week compared to 14 deaths in the previous week. The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 stands at 167,367, while deaths are at 3,620.
