Epidemics Tracker

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A section of Scientists have explained to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee that developing a vaccine against COVID-19 will take a longer than earlier expected, given the different processes involved. The scientists appeared before the committee alongside officials from the former Ministry of Science, Technology …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leaders in the banking industry say that they have failed to identify people who qualify for the government’s COVID-19 relief fund meant for small and medium enterprises. It comes a few days after the Bank of Uganda revealed that only Shillings 6 billion out of …

Lilongwe, Malawi | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) has described Malawi’s cholera outbreak as the largest in Africa as the country has so far contributed nearly 40 percent of total cases recorded in 12 countries across the continent. WHO Regional Health Security Advisor Ambrose Talisuna said this during his presentation …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new clinical case definition for post-COVID-19 condition or ‘long COVID’ in children and adolescents. According to the latest statement by the organization, children and adolescents are more likely to have few or no symptoms or develop mild …

Geneva, Switzerland | Xinhua | The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the WHO’s highest alert level. The announcement came amid the recent increase of weekly reported deaths worldwide. After its quarterly assessment meeting on the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Xinhua | Uganda on Wednesday said the Ebola Sudan Virus outbreak in the country has ended after no new case was reported over a period of 42 days. The World Health Organization (WHO) requires that for a country to be declared Ebola-free, it should …

Copenhagen, Denmark | Xinhua | A senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to take science-based precautionary COVID-19 entry restrictions that are proportionate and non-discriminatory. Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, made the appeal at a press conference here on Tuesday. “For those countries in our …

Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Covid-19 isolation centre at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital is to be renamed the Infectious Diseases and Research Centre. The construction of the isolation centre that started during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 cost up to two billion Shillings. The centre which is now awaiting …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Schools are yet to recover fully from the effects of the COVID-19-induced closures nearly a year after their reopening. Uganda had the longest closure of schools anywhere in the world. The 22-month closure caused profound disruptions to children’s learning and overall well-being, exacerbating the pre-existing …

Beijing, China | Xinhua | The COVID-19 pandemic has put health policies and governance capacities of countries around the globe to the test. When evaluating a nation’s performance in such a test for all of humanity, it is important to consider how well the lives and health of its citizens have …