By Frank Kamuntu
The Ministry of Health has revealed that results from samples tested on Friday May 22, 2020, confirmed 15 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, which raised the total of confirmed cases to 175.
Officials from the Ministry added that 12 new cases are truck drivers while 3 cases are contacts to previously confirmed truck drivers who were all under quarantine at the time of test.
It’s also confirmed that Samples from Points of Entry tested were 1,248 while samples from community and contacts were 858 bringing total samples tested on 22 May 2020 to 2,106 hence recoveries marks 68.
However, 23 positive foreign truck drivers were handed over to their country of origin as a way of minimizing the transmission of this deadly disease.
It should be noted that of recent, truck drivers have become the biggest transmitters of Coronavirus in the East African region. The presidents of Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda agreed that the drivers be tested in their countries of origin before they reach Uganda. Rwanda introduced relay driving whereby goods are delivered at its border and then taken inland by Rwandan truck drivers.
Looking at East African tallies, 2,567 samples tested in Kenya on Friday, 52 people tested positive. These included 48 Kenyans, two Ugandans and 2 Somali nationals. Total confirmed cases rose to 1,161. However 5 more patients recovered from the disease to rise the country’s total to 380.
Whereas Rwanda’s cases rose to 321 after one more person tested positive from the 1,568 samples while another five recovered to increase the tally to 222.
Two more COVID-19 patients died in South Sudan to increase its total deaths to 6. Another 82 people tested positive on Friday to increase its tally to 563.
It was only recently that Africa’s youngest nation lifted its lockdown, now, except the minister of Health, all members of its COVID-19 National Taskforce have tested positive. 10 ministers have so far tested positive. Even Vice President Riek Machar and his wife Agenlina Teny and their bodyguards tested positive. Rumours have been rife in South Sudan that even the president could be positive but minister of Information Michael Makuei dismissed the allegations.
Tanzania’s cases are still at 509 as President John Pombe Magufuli’s government hasn’t released any updates in two weeks. Burundi’s cases still stand at 42 while DR Congo registered two more deaths and 110 new cases.
89 people died of Coronavirus in Africa on Friday while another 4,159 others got infected. In comparison, on Thursday 105 died while 4694 got infected.
However globally, there are 5,190,491 total infections, 334,173 deaths and 2,079,018 recoveries as of May 22. The USA remains the world’s most infected country with 1,620,897 infections and 96,354 deaths. On Friday it registered 1,418 new deaths and 28,175 new cases.
