Kalangala quarantine center closed over lack of funds

Kalangala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kalangala district taskforce has temporarily closed the quarantine centre at Bishop Dunstan Memorial Secondary School due to lack of funds. In April, the district received 165 million shillings to intensify anti-COVID-19 campaigns to facilitate surveillance, coordination and also establish isolation centres.

The Kalangala LCV chairperson, Willy Lugoloobi says that 40 million shillings was allocated to maintain the quarantine centre, feed suspects and also facilitate the five health workers who monitor the suspects and security officers at the facility.

Daniel Kikoola, the Kalangala Resident District Commissioner says that by end of last month, the funds to maintain the centre had been exhausted. At the time of the closure, there were no suspects at the centre.

Kikoola says that due to lack of funds, the task force was forced to mobilise for food and other items from the community.

He however says the situation improved when the government released funds for the centre.

Dr Godfrey Hadubi, the District Health Inspector says that the centre will be opened when more funds are released. He says that Covid-19 suspects have been advised to self-isolate at home.

The centre opened in early April and so far 89 suspects had been admitted at the centre.

They were contacts of Eng. Charles Banya Lwanga, who tested positive to COVID-19 after returning from the United States of America in March.

When Banya was referred to Entebbe Regional Hospital, the surveillance team traced all his contacts and took them for institutional quarantine.

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