At 616 confirmed cases as of June 7, Uganda is fast nearing its 2,000 case management capacity. The country's positive COVID-19 cases today increased to 616 after 23 more cases were confirmed from 2,494 samples tested yesterday. 92 people have been discharged after recovering from the coronavirus disease.
Seven of the new cases are truck drivers who entered the country using Elegu border with South Sudan, Mutukula border with Tanzania and Mirama Hills border with Rwanda.
Another case is of a security guard from Elegu while the other is a health worker, raising the number of infected health workers to 18. The other 14 cases were from contacts to previously positive cases and contacts from Kyotera, Adjumani, Tororo and Amuru districts according to the ministry of Health.
Dr Monica Musenero, an epidemiologist and senior presidential advisor on epidemics, says when the country locked down in March, they prepared the health system to handle a maximum of 2,000 COVID-19 cases at ago. Health experts and officials have now expressed worry about the increasing spread of the virus amongst the community even before the country totally lifts the lockdown.
"Right now we have cases coming from the community and this is not going to get better because people are no longer adhering to preventive measures like washing hands, wearing masks and even social distancing," Musenero said.
While the Health ministry insists that all cases being reported among contacts of truck drivers are under quarantine, the increase in such cases and those being reported in districts like Kampala that are not on anywhere near the border are worrying. With the latest 14 new contact and alert cases, community cases have now risen to 121.
Musenero blames the rise in Uganda's cases to population complacency. She says people are no longer afraid of the disease and have abandoned wearing masks and social distancing.
"We held down the virus with our measures to prepare the country so that we're better ready by the time cases come. Ready as the health system but also ready as the population. At the moment, the population doesn't seem to be with us so much. They misinterpreted or we didn't explain somehow. We don't know. They assume the epidemic is over with the way they are behaving. They are rejecting every kind of measure we tell them and that will nullify our preparation." Musenero said.
"All their sacrifices will be lost…The lockdown was not meant to be for too long but on our side, we're moving forward, the population is moving in the reverse. Ugandans believe...no matter what you tell them, they didn't want to hear that cases are going to rise. But I tell you that cases are going to rise but how far they rise will depend on the cooperation of the population." she added.
Uganda was among a few countries in the world that instituted lockdown measures to forestall the spread of the disease even before a first case was confirmed, the first measures were issued on March 18, 2020, while the first case was reported on March 21, 2020.
According to Musenero, while the health system used the lockdown to prepare itself, the Ugandans who were supposed to benefit from it will see no benefits if there's no behavioural change. She says that people need to go back to the basics of preventing this disease and start wearing masks, washing hands and social distancing.
Data from the health ministry shows that at the time when Uganda received its first case, the level of awareness and fear of COVID-19 stood as high as 60 per cent. Today, the fear of the disease among the population has reduced to as low as 20 per cent in some parts of the country.
Musenero says at the moment Uganda has the ability to manage just 2,000 confirmed cases at a given time with 120 intensive care unit (ICU) beds to handle severe cases. She says if people keep on ignoring social distancing and stop wearing masks, she says another lockdown might be the solution to slow the spread of the disease.
"People have taken masks more as a requirement than a protective equipment. You see, you don't get out of your country naked. The [virus] is in the air, it is from people talking. The population is looking at it as if it is being forced and they are looking for all excuses. The disease is rising, it is entering the community. Now we need to own the response together. Of course, the alternative is for government to clamp down lockdown again. I hope the population can self-police and we move together. We prepared to handle at the peak maximum of 2000 cases at ago. So we cannot afford to be taking in too many." she said.
Dr Diana Atwine, the Health ministry permanent secretary, says the country should expect the see the worst in coming weeks.
"To us in Uganda, the epidemic has started because you remember we first kept it at bay, we first kept it out of the country by sealing off the border, by stopping the transportation…Our region is experiencing high level of infections and somehow people are still moving in and out of the country. We're now starting to see some more cases that are coming and are reported here and there. For us, this is the beginning and we still have some good journey to move." Atwine said.
The number of the reported Covid-19 cases and deaths is on the rise on the entire African continent. According to the WHO Africa region, 1,500 cases are reported every day on average compared to 500 cases two months ago. The number of confirmed cases in Africa stands at 185,996, 5,082 deaths with 83,432 recoveries as of June 6.
Dr Atwine says while the lockdown played a big role in reducing the rate of infections, the complacency of Ugandans is going to lead to the spread of the disease. She says this is an issue of concern for them at the moment.
"It concerns us because we know that one person getting infected and if that person gets in the community it doesn't only stop at that person. He will infect as many people and those many people will infect as many and that is how the infection spreads like wildfire. One person can infect 100 people even more within the shortest time. The best is really to be cautious and be vigilant, to observe what we have set…I still see a lot of people walking with masks on the chin, in business areas you see business is normal." said Atwine.
Whereas the Health officials are blaming Ugandans for the increase in cases, there's a section of Ugandans that blames President Yoweri Museveni for the rise in cases. When the country locked up in March, Museveni was severally asked to manage better the cross-border truck drivers but instead asked "Ugandans to swallow their anger", saying the country couldn't afford to lock out truckers because they were taking in and out the country's imports and exports.
Samples would be taken from truckers who would then proceed their journeys and only tracked down if their results return as positive. Government claimed the truck drivers were only allowed to stop at designated points but it later turned out the drivers were providing false information to the government.
Uganda has not yet recorded any death associated with the pandemic but Musenero predicts that this record too could be broken if people don't take the disease a little more serious than they are now.
"So many false things are being shared on social media about this disease and Ugandans are taking in everything. Contrary to what people say that the disease does not kill, it does kill. The only reason Uganda has not reported cases is because the disease had not entered the communities of Uganda. But with the way cases are rising, this situation is about to change. More people will fall sick, the health system will be overwhelmed and deaths will start being reported," she explained.
On Friday this week, Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) passed out its last batch of 84 personnel trained to handle safe and dignified burials of (SDB) of coronavirus victims.
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