The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Uganda has risen to 203 after 43 truck drivers tested positive. This is the highest number of infections that the country has recorded in one day.
The total number of truck drivers who have so far tested positive for Covid-19 in Uganda is 143.
The new cases, include 11 Kenyans, 5 Tanzanians, 17 Ugandans, 2 Burundians, and 4 Eritreans who entered Uganda via various border entry points at Mutukula, Busia and Elegu. One case is of unknown nationality.
A breakdown of the cases per border post indicates that 28 infections were identified at Elegu border (15 Ugandans, 9 Kenyans and 4 Eritreans)
The six cases identified at Mutukula border include 5 Tanzanians, 1 Burundian while the eight coronavirus infections at Malaba include 5 Kenyans, 2 Ugandans and1 Burundian national.
The Ministry also identified one person whose nationality isn’t known.
A total of 1,838 samples were tested and all 720 community samples tested negative, the Health Ministry said.
The total number of recoveries have also increased to 63 cases.
Further details about the positive cases are yet to be released by the health ministry.
Today’s positive cases, all made up of truck drivers bring the number of those who have tested positive to 143.
Meanwhile, as the virus spreads further, UNAIDS, the UN agency fighting against the deadly HIV/AIDS virus, has initiated a petition to global leaders requesting that when a successful Covid-19 vaccine is developed, it should be made available free of charge to all.
On Thursday, more than 140 world leaders and figures signed an open letter requesting governments to unite behind a people’s vaccine against COVID-19, marking the most ambitious position yet set out by world leaders on what has become the most urgent quest in modern science.
They are demanding that all vaccines, treatments and tests be patent-free, mass-produced and distributed fairly. South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is pushing for scientific research to be shared between countries and that the vaccine be patent-free.
“Nobody should be pushed to the back of the vaccine queue because of where they live or what they earn,” he said, in the joint UNAIDS/Oxfam letter.
Government and national leaders also joined UN agencies and international financial institutions on Thursday, in calling for water, sanitation and hygiene to be prioritized in the battle against the virus.
Confirming that these three areas – together with physical distancing – are first lines of defence, and central to stemming the virus from spreading, they pointed out that handwashing requires access to running water in sufficient quantities.
