By; Our reporter
09th April 2020
Rotary District 9211, comprising Uganda and Tanzania has donated Personal Protective Equipment-PPE and test kits worth 1 billion Shillings to the ministry of health to provide assistance during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
So far, Uganda has confirmed 53 cases of COVID-19. However, more than 2,000 people have been tested for the disease, creating a shortage of both test kits and PPE for health workers.
According to Rotary District 9211 Governor Francis Xavier Sentamu, Rotarians responded to the most pressing need, following an outcry by the Ministry of Health. He says that the donated PPE will go to the Ministry of Health, in both Uganda and Tanzania to help the countries deal with surging demand for PPE driven by misinformation, panic buying, and stockpiling.
Last week, Dr Diana Atwine the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health said that the country only had 10 per cent of the required PPE and relation to the donation Dr Atwine it is timely in the efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation, there’s a global shortage of over 2 million masks, goggles and gloves, yet the capacity to expand PPE production is limited.
Meanwhile The Health Ministry has started collecting blood sample from all COVID-19 suspects in addition to the nasal and throat swabs for testing.
Dr Julius Amumpe, an Epidemiologist and Head Quality Assurance Department in the Health Ministry, says that they have asked local field teams to collect blood samples from all suspected cases regardless of their viral status including the ones that were discharged from quarantine centres.
He disclosed this while addressing the Greater Masaka Regional COVID19 Taskforce at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital adding that being a naval pandemic, the new testing method will help scientists make new discoveries about the virus towards finding appropriate responses to the case-patients.
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