KAMPALA — Kampala is among the three top districts that account for the biggest percent of all confirmed cases in Uganda, the Ministry of Health has said on Thursday August 13 — naming the capital as the country’s biggest coronavirus hotspot.
“Kampala has joined the hotspot districts and I want to encourage Ugandans that the direction in which this pandemic will go in this country will be determined by the population, Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng said in televised address to the country. “If we’re responsible, people we’ll keep it under control but if we’re careless then it may blow out of proportion and cause us to loose some good number of lives”.
Kampala this week saw a major surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, making it the new virus hotspot.
Dr. Aceng said Amuru and Kyotera districts have been recording the highest rates of transmission in comparison to other districts, but have now been joined by Kampala City.
According to the authoritative local Publication the New Times, Amuru District has so far registered 116, Kampala in the second place with 104 and Kyotera at 84 infections.
Dr. Aceng indicated that the Kampala has registered emerging clusters of transmission in three business premises in the last one week where in all, 11 cases and 316 contacts have been identified.
She said business premises including Eagle Holdings (4 cases confirmed): linked to the 5th death (46-year-old /Female; Indian), Megha Industries (4 cases confirmed), Toyota Uganda (3 cases confirmed have been recommended for temporary closure.
To date, cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID19 in Uganda is 1,353 with a breakdown indicating that returnees from abroad have reached 183, contacts and alerts stand at 557, truck drivers at 574 while health workers stand at 39 cases.
“We have noted that COVID-19 kills everyone irrespective of their age, the Dr. Aceng said.
“The youngest COVID-19 related mortality was 27 years old while the oldest was 80 years old. 90% of the mortalities had a history of underlying conditions such as: diabetes, hypertension, HIV, asthma among others.”