Institutions to pay USD 65 for staff Covid-19 testing

By; Jjunju Francis

31^st Aug 2020

Government through the ministry of health has introduced what they have called a “Cost Recovery Mechanism” that is going to see government and private institutions contribute USD 65 (approx 240,500/=) per test to test their staff   for COVID-19.

The money will paid in a pool on a Bank Account in Stanbic Bank under the names, MOH, COVID-19 TESTING FUND, 9030017657983, to help the Ministry of acquire more testing kits for continued access to testing services in the country.

In a letter dated Thursday August 27, 2020 signed by Geoffrey Sseremba on behalf of the permanent secretary ministry of health and copied to all government institutions, secretaries, accountant general and director general health services says government has been footing all expenses for testing for Covid-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in Uganda however given the rising figures of the disease it is important for institutions test all staff to ascertain their health status.

The categories of people who will pay for the testing services with effect from September 1^st 2020 are truck drivers at different entry points, individuals who seek to know their Covid-19 status, organisations both government and private, Ugandans returning from abroad and visitors arriving in the country from other countries.

But government says it will continue to pay testing services for patients who present to health services with Covid-19 symptoms, contacts of people who have tested positive of Covid-19, community surveys to establish the extent of the spread of the virus, surveillance samples and front line health workers.

Sseremba says although the country had kept the infection levels at 1% cases are shooting up with a total of 2,756 cases so far registered in the country, with 28 deaths, from a total sample test of 367, 423 and the number of recoveries is 1,288, with 765 active cases and 2,095 people under institutional quarantine.