New Covid hotspots revealed

Ugandans will have another Covid Christmas tomorrow after government confirmed a surge in daily infections and hospitalisation as the country struggles with virus fatigue ahead of the planned full reopening of economy and schools next month.

Three days after Cabinet authorised Health Ministry officials to introduce proof-of-vaccination requirements for public places, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng yesterday named Wakiso, Kampala, Kyotera and two other upcountry districts as the Covid-19 hotspots.
The minister who was updating the country on the status of the pandemic, announced that the country had registered a drastic rise in cases and increase in hospitalisation and maintained that the full reopening of the economy and schools next month won’t be affected.

Dr Aceng revealed that they began to observe an increase in the numbers of confirmed cases in the last two weeks with the majority of cases observed in border districts.
“In the last 14 days of December 2021, we have registered 2,423 confirmed cases, giving an average of 173 cases per day,” she said. This is higher than the average of 50 cases per day that were being registered in previous weeks. We have registered 100 percent increase in cases and positivity in the last seven days compared to the previous week,” Dr Aceng said.

According to statistics from the ministry, of the 2,423 cases registered in the last 14 days, Wakiso contributed as high as 46 percent (1,107), followed by Kampala 38 percent (926), Kyotera 6 percent (144), Tororo 2 percent (49), and Amuru 1 percent (37), among other districts.
Singling out Wakiso District, the minister revealed that 70 percent (775/1,107) of the cases registered in Wakiso were mostly the incoming travellers through Entebbe International Airport.

“These travellers are coming from the following countries: Kenya, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, DR Congo, Nigeria, and United Kingdom. The confirmed cases registered in other districts are also travellers and truck drivers,” she said.
The surge in cases has also been reflected in increasing hospitalisation. Although still negligible, the hospitalised cases increased from 74 as of December 12 to the current 85 cases.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Uganda has registered 131,981 as the cumulative confirmed cases of Covid-19, of which 98,175 have recovered, and 3,274 have succumbed to the disease.

Dr Henry Kyobe, the national incident commander for Covid-19, told Monitor that the Omicron variant could have escaped into the communities.
“It is likely that the [rising] cases could be Omicron because they are majorly imported. We know that some of the countries like South Africa and Kenya where a number of positive cases are coming from have Omicron,” he said.
“Evidence coming through indicates that Omicron colonisation of the upper airway makes it more transmissible but again, in a way, it makes it less severe [in terms of causing disease].”  
He appealed to Ugandans to adhere to Covid-19 preventive measures and go for vaccination to escape effects of Omicron.

The surge in cases is presenting at a time when the ministry is grappling with waves of strikes from different medical professionals and faced with the government’s plan to fully reopen the economy and schools in January.
Dr Aceng said that despite the strike by medical professionals, Covid-19 surveillance is still ongoing at entry points to curb the importation of cases. “We are sustaining the mandatory testing at Entebbe International Airport, and intense information sharing to the incoming travellers, to ensure they observe SOPs and isolate when confirmed positive,” she said.

She added: “We are implementing the Cabinet directive for mandatory testing, and follow up of positive cases for all incoming travellers at the 53 land border points of entry. Currently, the focus is on the five major points of entry: Malaba, Elegu, Busia, Mutukula, and Mpondwe.
Daily Monitor understands that testing at land border points is being implemented by the private sector at the government set rates of $25 (Shs88,500) to fight Omicron and ensure the costs are not exorbitant. The Covid-19 testing cost was previously as high as $65 (Shs230,000) at some points of entry before the government revised the payments.

Dr Aceng, however, said they are seeking Shs131b to establish facilities at border points so as to intensify surveillance and minimise importation of cases. She said the government intends to take over testing from private labs. She also disclosed that they are concerned about the Omicron variant and its potential impact on the health facilities given the limited bed capacity and low staffing in hospitals.

These shortages caused unforgettable pain at the peak of the second wave around June-July when many Covid-19 patients failed to access beds and some of them died in ambulances while trying to negotiate the heavy prices that private hospitals were charging for treatment.
“Although disease caused by the Omicron variant has generally been reported to be mild (87 percent cases), the high attack rate of Omicron means that severe (8 percent) and critical (5 percent) might accrue at a rate that our respective (HDU and ICU) bed capacity might not sustain for long,” she said.

Vaccination is the answer
In dealing with the current surge, Dr Aceng told the country that they are banking on increasing vaccination coverage, implementing vaccination mandate and giving booster doses to the elderly as the main way to escape the potentially disastrous effects of the resurgence.
“In order to increase uptake, the Ministry of Health will continue to undertake regional accelerated Mass Covid-19 Vaccination Campaigns (AMVC). To date, the vaccination campaigns have been conducted in the sub-regions of Teso, Lango, Acholi,  Ankole, West Nile, Tooro, Rwenzori, and part of Buganda,” she said.
The ongoing regional vaccination campaigns have enabled the vaccination of 4.5 million people over the last one and a half months in the eight regions, according to statistics from the ministry.

Up to 10.6 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered to the target population of 22 million people since the exercise started in March this year. A total of 9.1 million people have received the first dose, meaning their immunity is less effective against Covid-19. But 3.4 million are fully vaccinated.
After breaking through the barriers of vaccine access, as high as 32.6 million doses of vaccines have been received by the government and of which 20 million doses have been utilised countrywide and some are still in the districts. The distribution of the remaining 12.6 million doses is ongoing.

Dr Aceng said they are concerned about the increase in the number of celebration events taking place this season, such as wedding parties, birthday parties and family reunions.
“We strongly advise that the organisers of such events should ensure strict adherence to the standard operating procedures including handwashing with soap and water, social distancing and proper use of face masks,” she said.