By Fred Kiva
The Ministry of Health has confirmed the first case of Coronavirus at Entebbe.
The case is of a 36-year-old Ugandan man who arrived in the country from Dubai aboard Ethiopian Airlines at 2am on Saturday. “He presented with high fever and poor appetite,” the Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng said in a statement on Saturday evening.
The COVID-19 case came barely hours after national prayers held at State House and the President’s closure of border points and Entebbe Airport as an additional measure to keep away the disease.
The President had directed that no one will be allowed to enter Uganda beginning Monday, March 23.
Museveni had on Wednesday announced the first set of measures, which included the closure of schools and suspension of religious and other social gatherings, as a way to avoid the highly contagious viral disease. Uganda was the only country spared by the virus which has ravaged all the East African neighbors and several other countries in the world since December last year.
Speaking during the prayer service led by the inter-religious council at State House on Saturday, President Yoweri Museveni noted that it was by God’s grace that Uganda hadn’t registered any Coronavirus case then, given the reckless life most Ugandans live. He added that the prayers were meant for Ugandans to stick more to God in the face of this global pandemic.
Patient Isolated
Minister Aceng says the patient has been isolated at Entebbe Grade B Hospital, while “the passenger manifest has been retrieved and all contacts are known as we are in possession of the passports of the travelers that came on that plane.”
“The public is hereby requested to remain calm and vigilant and to report any suspected cases,” the Minister said.
