KAMPALA- Uganda has registered 98 new COVID-19 cases from tests done of August 20, 2020 bringing the total cumulative cases to 1,848.
According to the Ministry of Health, 75 are from Kampala, 6 from Luweero, 3 from Jinja, 2 from Tororo, 4 from Adjumani, Buikwe, Kasese and Mukono districts.
“Five truck drivers arrived from Kenya. Three are returnees from Kenya, DRC and South Sudan,” the ministry said in a statement.
MoH further revealed that 11 truck drivers tested positive for COVID-19 and their entry into the country was not permitted.
In a newly released circular by the Kampala COVID-19 taskforce, infections in the capital city are 41.2% of the national active cases.
The Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan areas Betty Amongi revealed that the cases are most registered from work places, political activities, public transport and arcades among others.
Amongi further noted that Kampala registered its first COVID-19 case on March 23,2020 and then hit the hundred mark on July 30,2020.
“From this,it took Kampala 4 months to hit 100 cases, 10 days to hit 200 cases yet less than 5 days closing in to the 400 mark. The increase in cases is therefore a great concern,” reads the statement in part.
She noted that 66.3% of the new infections in Kampala were alerts followed by contacts of previously confimed cases at 26.3%.
“The substantial proportion of alerts is possibly an indication of high community transmission. These are being manifested following the opening of public transport and shopping arcades,” reads an excerpt.
The minister advised the public to follow guidelines and SOPs issued by the President and Ministry of health in order to curb the spread of the novel Corona virus.
“It is more evident that if we don’t change our behavior of non compliance to the health safety measures, and downplaying the threat of COVID-19, the situation will worsen which can lead us into another lockdown of affected areas to protect the lives of the most vulnerable city dwellers,” Amongi said.
