KAMPALA — 43 truck drivers have tested positive for Coronavirus on Friday May 15, pushing Uganda’s tally to 203 confirmed cases.
The new cases, the highest number recorded in a single day so far, 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 pwrons 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, the Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng on Friday commissioned the first Port Health Laboratory in Uganda.
According to Dr. Aceng, it is a gene expert laboratory with two machines and capacity to run 64 samples per hour.
“All truck drivers arriving via Mutukula point of entry will be tested for COVID-19 and results given within 45 minutes,” she said.
She added that, “If you are found positive, you cannot proceed with your journey..if you’re negative, you are released.”
Dr. Aceng further revealed that the ministry of health has 260 gene machines that shall be put at the different borders to ease the testing of coronavirus.
Initially, the testing of COVID-19 was done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) and later at Makerere University Department of microbiology and immunology that was authorised to test rapid survey samples.
