New York, United States | AFP | As she emerges from quarantine, recovered COVID-19 patient Diana Berrent is eager to join the battle against the pandemic and donate precious antibodies that researchers hope might help others. In mid-March, the New Yorker woke up with a 102-degree (39 Celsius) fever and intense …
Read More »Elegu immigration officials accused of allowing Ugandans into country
Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Immigration officials at Elegu, the Uganda– South Sudan border in Amuru District are on the spot for allegedly clearing six Ugandans into the country. On March 22, Uganda closed her borders with South Sudan to contain the outbreak of the deadly disease in the country. …
Read More »Rubirizi health workers stuck outside district due to ban on public, private transport
Rubirizi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Rubirizi district is short of health workers as most of them are stuck outside the district following the presidential ban on public and private transport. The Rubirizi District Health Officer, Kisesete Tibenda says most health workers are stuck in Mbarara, Ishaka and Bushenyi districts because …
Read More »UNBS names companies with fake sanitizers
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has named companies that have failed laboratory tests and likely to sell substandard sanitizers. The standards body said in a notice on Thursday evening urged the public not to buy particular companies’ products. “This is aimed at protecting consumers …
Read More »Antibody tests key to ending COVID-19 lockdowns
Paris, France | AFP | It’s the key that opens to door from total lockdown: serologic testing, which will show definitively who has contracted COVID-19 and is in theory safe to return to work. “Everyone’s waiting for serologic testing, the whole world,” said France’s Health Minister Olivier Veran. He said that …
Read More »COVID-19: Ugandan cases now stand at 45
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health registered one new case of COVID-19 today, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 45. The latest case is of a 22-year-old female, a resident of Nkokonjeru, Wakiso district and wife to a previously confirmed case who arrived from Dubai …
Read More »Man who completed quarantine further isolated after presenting high fever
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A man who had completed the 14 day mandatory self-quarantine in Kitgum municipality has been retained after presenting high fever while undergoing screening at Kitgum general hospital. The suspect was reportedly sent into isolation on Wednesday afternoon after his temperature measured 38 degrees celsius …
Read More »Lack of protective equipment likely to cause infections among health workers- Doctors
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The lack of personal protective equipment for health workers is likely to lead to the spread of infections and deaths. Uganda has so far confirmed 44 cases of COVID-19 as of March 31, 2020. No health worker has yet been infected according to the …
Read More »Water shortage hindering implementation of COVID-19 measures
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Several residents in rural areas across greater Luweero are struggling to implement preventive measures of COVID-19 due to water shortage. Recently President Yoweri Museveni directed that gatherings of more than five people is restricted in a move aimed at de-congesting public places in the …
Read More »Gov’t to prioritize salaries, security- Ministry of Finance
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Government has classified wages and salaries of civil servants, Ministry of Health spending and security as priority spending in the foreseeable future until the country can contain the COVID-19 scourge. Secretary to the Treasury Keith Muhakanizi said in a statement to all accounting …
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