Maternity home closed after eight staff test positive for COVID-19

Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kitgum district COVID-19 taskforce has ordered for the immediate closure of Kitgum maternity home, a private health facility in central division after eight of its health workers tested positive for COVID-19.

The health workers are part of 17 people who tested positive for the contagion today in Kitgum district according to results released from the Central Public Health Laboratory [CPHL]. Kitgum Resident District Commissioner William Komakech told URN in an interview on Friday that the positive cases are all contacts of a confirmed positive case from Lamwo district.

Komakech says the health facility will now be shut down to ensure that all employees and some patients who came in contact with the health workers are traced and placed under quarantine.

Reports obtained by URN indicate that the positive cases are all primary contacts of an aspirant vying for the Lamwo district chairman’s seat who tested positive for COVID-19 last week in Madiopei sub-county. A laboratory specialist at Kitgum General Hospital told the task force members during a meeting on Friday that the politician made contacts with the health workers while seeking for medical treatment a while ago.

He says 11 of the 39 primary contacts rounded from Kitgum municipality after he tested positive were from Kitgum maternity home. According to him, eight of his contacts from Kitgum maternity home, seven from his residence in Apollo grounds and one health worker from Kitgum General Hospital tested positive for COVID-19.

The RDC also singled out Apollo grounds in central division as one of the hotspots for COVID-19 in the area noting that a lockdown will be imposed on any form of business that attracts gatherings and unnecessary movements.

Komakech called for vigilance from the community citing that the reality of COVID-19 community transmissions has already started manifesting itself.

Kitgum District Health Officer Dr Alex Olwedo says six suspected COVID-19 patients are currently undergoing quarantine at St Joseph’s Hospital Kitgum. This is the highest number of cases registered in a single day in Kitgum district bringing the total confirmed cases since March this year to 19.

By this evening, the surveillance team was still mobilizing for transport to trace all the 17 positive patients for immediate referral to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.

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URN