Six contacts of Namisindwa COVID-19 victim test positive

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Six contacts of the first COVID-19 death in Namisindwa district have tested positive for the virus and were already under quarantine.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, another Ugandan of Indian origin and a resident of Kibuli in Kampala tested positive for the viral respiratory disease and was a contact to the latest death that was the country’s fifth.

Ten people tested positive on Wednesday, among them were three Ugandan truck drivers. Two of the drivers arrived in the country from Kenya through Malaba and one from South Sudan through the border at Elegu.

The new positive cases bring the total number of confirmed cases to 1,223 and 1,102 have since recovered.

288,367 tests have been conducted since March when the country embarked on testing at various laboratories around the country.

The numbers of people tested per day which has been averaging at 3,000 lately are set to increase with plans of accrediting more laboratories to start conducting tests. For instance, the Uganda Cancer Institute will this month start testing all the patients who come to seek care at the facility.

Last week, the Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng announced that they had accredited three more laboratories to offer covid-19 tests to those that can pay at the selected private facilities in Kampala including at Medipal hospital, MBN and Lancet laboratories.

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