By Mulengera Reporter
Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has told women who reside in towns and trading centres, where cargo transporters stop over for rest along their journeys, to stay away from truck drivers or risk catching and spreading the deadly Coronavirus.
In her second comprehensive address to the nation on Covid19 delivered in Kampala on Saturday, Minister Aceng called for social distancing in homes, communities and along major routes during the three-week lockdown announced by President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday. She also appealed to Ugandans to postpone visits to friends’ and relatives’ homes.
“I appeal to all of you who live along the roads followed by the truck drivers, including the women who interact with them for different purposes, to stay away from these truck drivers,” said Aceng.
“During this period of lockdown, please do not accept visitors into your homes, not even neighbours. Ensure adequate physical distancing with people who do not live with you every day. Stay at home; avoid trading centers and other business places because you do not know where your friend has been or whether he/she is safe.”
This week alone, Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed three Covid19 cases from tests the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) did on samples taken from truck drivers. Of these, one is Ugandan, another one a Kenyan and the third a Tanzanian Procurement Officer working for a DR Congo mining firm.
To date, Minister Aceng revealed, a total of 2,878 samples from truck drivers have been tested. She added that screening and testing of truck drivers would continue on 53 points of entry.
“Two mobile PCR laboratories have been procured and will be received in the country tomorrow, Sunday 19th April and officially commissioned by the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda. They will be deployed at the congested border points to quicken testing and return of results,” she said.
(For comments on this story, call, text or whatsapp us on 0705579994, 0779411734 & 0200900416 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).