The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Namisindwa, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Namisindwa district quarantine center for corona virus suspects is in a very story state. Established at Magale secondary school in Magale town council, the quarantine center is home to over 90 corona virus suspects but lacks a single bed.
Currently, all suspects sleep on papyrus mats on the floor and share almost everything including utensils, bathrooms and toilets. The nine health workers manning the quarantine center lack Personal Protective Equipment-PPEs.
According to authorities, there is no money to feed the Covid19 suspects, which has seen some of them escape from the facility often citing hunger. Some of the suspects sneak from the quarantine center to buy food while others go to drink local brew where they mingle freely with residents and sneak back to the facility.
James Mukhwana, the in Charge of the Quarantine center told URN that they have been operating without PPEs since the center was established on March 26, 2020. He told our reporter that the mask he was using had worked for over two weeks, adding that his medical gown is the only thing he is using to protect himself from contracting the contagious virus.
Mukwana also said they are struggling to feed the suspects. “We have a challenge of feeding these people. We are only feeding them on Posho, which even comes without sauce. We have to use our own money to buy beans and other vegetables. As I speak now, we have been borrowing from the trading center and now our debts have accumulated to more than Shillings 4 million,” he said.
Mukhwana also told Uganda Radio Network that the health workers deployed the center, haven’t received their allowances since they started operating and live under the same horribly conditions like the covid19 suspects they are looking after.
A health work at the facility told URN on condition of anonymity that they are scared for their lives because they interface with many people returning from Kenya. “We just work because we are protecting our jobs but for sure our lives are at risk since we even don’t know these people” the source said.
Some of the covid19 suspects decried the conditions under, which they are living in at the center.
Efforts to get a comment from Namisindwa District Health Officer, Dr. Stephen Masai were futile as his known mobile telephone wasn’t available by the time of filing this story.
Moses Kigai Wamoto, the Namisindwa Resident District Commissioner who also Chair the Covid19 Task Force, said government has promised to deliver beds and mattresses to the quarantine center.
“They should be patient, all those things are coming, government has promised to send mattresses and the protective gears for the medical teams. I want to appeal to them to be calm and follow the preventive guidelines,” he told our reporter on phone.
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