Lockdown has been successful in reducing spread of Covid – MOH

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The lockdown has been a success in reducing the number of Covid-19 infections in the country. This is according to the Ministry of Health.

Last month, President Museveni announced several measures including the closure of schools, suspension of religious gatherings and transport between districts, for at least 42 days to contain the spread of the virus.

The ministry notes that the lockdown was also aimed at enhancing risk communication and community engagement, streamline and strengthen home-based care for Covid-19 and increase the capacity of health facilities to optimally manage the disease.

It was also supposed to enable vaccination against the disease, sustain continuity of other health services and ease access to emergency medical services in the country.

With two days left to the end of the lockdown, the Minister of health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng says the rate of community transmission during the lockdown has reduced.

According to the minister, the lockdown enabled the health ministry to carry out training of health workers on intensive care management, procure more ambulances, provide personal protective equipment for health workers, and it helped reduce the number of hospital admissions.

Before the lockdown was announced, on average 1,000 new infections were being reported daily. Now the figure stands at 100 cases.

While the number of infections in the second wave seems to be reducing, scientists warn that this does not mean that the second wave has ended or that the country is safe.

Dr Misaki Wayengera, the chair of the ministerial scientific committee says despite the drop in infections, there are still cases of community transmissions and as such the disease is not yet under control.

According to scientists, the effective method to stop the spread of the disease and new infections is by following all Standard Operating Procedures- SOPs.

In addition to this, vaccination against the disease is also another viable option that can be used to reduce infections. In countries like the UK where more than 50 percent of the population has been vaccinated, scientists say transmission of the disease has reduced.

As of today, only 232,743 Ugandans have been fully vaccinated. This represents less than 1.5 percent of the country’s population.

Prof David Serwada, the chair of the vaccine committee says if people fail to adhere to SOPs, Uganda will go through a third wave just like other African countries.

At the moment, the country’s positive infection rate stands at 10 percent. The minister says this number needs to be as low as 5 percent. Although there is a steady drop in the number of confirmed cases, Aceng says the number of deaths being reported has not reduced.

As of July 27, 2021, Uganda has recorded 92,795 cases of COVID-19 in both the first and second waves. According to the health ministry,  56 percent of these occurred in the second wave.

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