KAMPALA — The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda has risen to five, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Monday.
“The Ministry of Health would like to inform the public that Uganda has registered one COVID-19 death today. This brings the total COVID-19 deaths to five,” the statement said.
According to the ministry, the deceased was a 45-year-old female of Indian origin and a resident of Kibule in Kampala.
The Ministry says, on August 1, she presented at Kibuli Muslim Hospital with signs and symptoms consistent with COVID-19 which include mild fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. “Upon suspecting COVID-19, the Kibuli Muslim Hospital management referred her to Mulago National Referral Hospital for further management on the same day. Unfortunately, she passed away on her way to Mulago Hospital.”
“The samples analyzed at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) confirmed SARS COV-2. The process of contact tracing and listing is ongoing.”
In the same statement, the Ministry of Health has said that samples taken from a suspected COVID-19 death of Kiruhura district have tested negative for coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the ministry also reported thirteen new confirmed cases of which four were truck drivers who came from the Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo via Malaba and Bunagana respectively.
Five are contacts to previously confirmed cases from Kampala (3) and Gulu (3).
Two are returnees, while the other two are alerts from Buikwe and Kampala districts. The two returnees arrived from United States of America.
On July 23, the ministry confirmed the country’s first COVID-19-related death with the fifth one being confirmed a week later. Uganda was one of the few countries in the continent which had not yet recorded a death from COVID-19 by mid-July, according to the Africa CDC.
In addition to the thirteen new cases, 18 truck drivers, more than half who were Kenyans, tested positive for COVID-19 and were denied entry into the country.
As of August 3, Uganda has reported 1,195 confirmed cases, a figure which only represents Ugandans.
