Mubende residents upbeat as Ebola lockdown ends

A section of residents in Mubende want President Museveni to end the 21-day Ebola-induced lockdown in the district. 
However, the expected presidential Ebola address has not been scheduled even as the lockdown, also in Kassanda District, ends today.
Mr Ivan Ssemboga, a resident of Kijjaguzo Village in Madudu Sub-county on Tuesday asked the Health minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, about the possibility of lifting the lockdown after a reduction in the number of Ebola cases in the district.

“I believe that we have fought Ebola in our area and possibly expect the lockdown to be lifted. We can continue with the sensitisation,” he said at a public dialogue attended by a visiting Unicef delegation, the US Ambassador in Uganda Ms Natalie E. Brown, and other international partners.   
But Dr Aceng told residents that the assessment is ongoing by the various government departments and the Ministry of Health.
“Some of you are counting the lockdown days and look forward to that important announcement but the assessment is ongoing. We have not yet started counting the 42 days when WHO (World Health Organisation) will declare our area free from Ebola,” she said.

Residents of Mubende Municipal Council want the President to consider their economic plight and relax the lockdown.
Ms Betty Nanyunjja, a resident of West Division in Mubende Municipality, claims that her roadside business which depends on travellers is closed. 
She said the business is the major source of her family income.
“I have told my family members to fast and pray as the 21-day lockdown imposed on Mubende and Kassanda districts is lifted by the President on Friday. We have no alternative source of income,” she said.

But Ms Rosemary Byabasaija, the Resident District Commissioner and chairperson of the district Ebola taskforce, admitted that the lockdown reduced positive Ebola cases registered at the treatment units in Mubende.
“I believe that once the residents understand the message behind the lockdown, the cases could go to zero and Mubende will be free. I cannot guess the period but believe that we are on the right track,” she said.
The district taskforce said the Ebola treatment unit has registered only two positive cases in the last four days. 

The other cases registered at the unit are from Kassanda and the other neighboring districts, the taskforce Chairperson revealed in an interview on Wednesday.
Ebola has claimed 45 lives since September 20 when the outbreak was declared.