Uganda has registered 4 more cases of COVID-19 bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 79.
Dr. Henry Mwebesa, Director General Health Services at the Ministry of Health last evening announced that 4 more Tanzanian truck drivers had tested positive for the deadly virus in Uganda.
“Today, 4 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed out of the 1,578 samples tested among truck drivers. The confirmed cases are Tanzanian truck drivers who arrived through Mutukula. The 411 samples from communities tested negative for COVID-19 Confirmed COVID-19 cases are now 79,” Mwebesa said. As of yesterday, the Ministry of Health had tested 1,989 COVID-19 samples.
This comes days after the public asked the government to come up with tougher measures to curb the spread of coronavirus by truck drivers crossing into the country. For the last week, the biggest carriers of coronavirus into Uganda have been truck drivers who move through the country’s porous border transporting merchandise.
President Yoweri Museveni is tomorrow (Tuesday) expected to extensively address the nation on how to regulate truck drivers’ movements to curb the spread of COVID-19. At first, the driver would be tested and allowed to move before their results were released. This has since then proved futile considering that some drivers were reckless and often mingled with the locals along the way. Museveni now wants truck drivers to wait for their results before they are flagged off.
Similarly, Police have arrested two traffic officers who were filmed allegedly picking a bribe to allow truck drivers into the country through the Mutukula border. Mwebesa said that the officers were arrested and further action will be taken. “All officers at border points of entry are also tasked to take appropriate protective measures when handling cargo transporters,” he said.
