33 contacts of COVID-19 positive truck driver quarantined in Lira

Lira, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  The COVID-19 Task Force Team in Lira district has picked up 33 people who came into contact with a truck driver who tested positive to the disease, two days ago.

The truck driver who entered Uganda through Malaba on April 12, on his way to South Sudan is said to have interacted with several people in Lira town while on the journey. He was later intercepted at Kamdini Trading Centre in Oyam District, about 65 kilometres south of Gulu Town.

The 33 who came in contact with him include 17 females and 16 males. Five of these people have been classified as high-risk contacts because they were in direct contact with the driver, the other 28, were indirect contacts and have therefore been classified as low risk.

Four of the direct contacts are women, from whom he bought banana’s at Abutadi trading centre in Amach Sub County Lira District, while the fifth is a woman he is said to have picked for a ride from Lira to Loro Town council. The passenger has now been picked up together with her husband, whom she met at Loro after the ride, and her sister together with her husband.

Lira District Surveillance Focal Person Jimmy Kata Ogwal says that 28 people who have been classified as low-risk will be sent back home for self- isolation, while the rest will be quarantined at the Lira School of Comprehensive Nursing.

He urged the general public to remain calm and strictly observe all preventive measures outlined in the guidelines being disseminated by the Ministry of Health.

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