By Spy Uganda
Officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) on Monday dispatched a team of experts to Kabale District to quarantine five new cases of suspected Coronavirus infections.
We have learnt that the MoH team extracted samples from the five people who recently returned from Dubai, for further verification amidst fears of a COVID-19 outbreak in Uganda.
Alfred Besigensi, the  Kabale district Acting Health officer, told the media that shortly after the District Coronavirus Surveillance meeting, following the fact that 90 percent of Uganda’s confirmed cases all recently travelled from Dubai, the MoH directed them ensure that they Quarantine the returnees to avoid any possible spread of the virus.
Besigensi said that “The five people have been under self quarantine for two weeks and did not show any signs of the COVID- 19 but signs of the virus can be detected even after fourteen days.”
He added that the samples were taken to Uganda Virus Research Institute Entebbe as experts await the results.
The Kabale district Coronavirus surveillance focal person Paddy Mwesigye revealed that there are some people who travelled from Rwanda and are being hidden by locals in Kabale district although the hunt for them is on.
Mwesigye said that “We have already reports that some Rwandan nationals are being hidden in areas of Mwanjari, Kitumba and Kirigime in Kabale Municipality. But that we have instituted a team which will work with police to ensure that those people are discovered.
Worldwide, the total number of infections recorded since the beginning of the outbreak reached more than 740,000. Some 156,000 people have recovered globally while more than 35,000 have died.
Meanwhile, in East Africa, Tanzania’s health ministry has Tuesday announced the country’s first death from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by Coronavirus.
The patient was a 49-year-old Tanzanian man who had other underlying health conditions, according to reports.
The Tanzanian government has since confirmed 18 cases to date, including one recovered patient, while Uganda’s cases remain at 33 currently.
