Access to Buyiga island restricted amid COVID-19 fear

Mpigi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Mpigi district COVID-19 task force has restricted access to Buyiga island in Kammengo sub county where a community COVID-19 case was confirmed two days ago.

The case was confirmed in the community on Wednesday and was instructed to isolate from his family and the community and wear a face mask as he waits for evacuation. But it took the Ministry of Health up to 30 hours to evacuate the confirmed patient from the community together with four of his family members.

The four members of his family including his wife and three children were taken to Mpigi health center IV where the district isolation centre was established while the patient is now admitted at Mulago Hospital.

None of his neighbors or members of the community has been tested for COVID-19. As a result of the uncertainty, Mpigi Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Rosemary Byabashaija said that the island shall not be accessed by any person until a time when the Ministry of Health advises on the next plan of action.

Buyiga island which has over 10,000 people is connected to the mainland by a swamp and can only be accessed by canoe or engine boat at three different outlets.

Byabasaija says that the Ministry of Health together with Mpigi district medical team and the COVID-19 task force are still working on a program to locate the contacts of the patient who will then be quarantined and their samples were taken for testing.

On top of the list of the contacts are health workers at Gombe Hospital where he had earlier on gone for treatment of a different ailment, a cyclist who rode him from Buwama to Gombe and back, the boat operators who sailed him from the island to the mainland and a drug shop attendant where he bought medicines on return from Gombe hospital.

Meanwhile, the locals are however suspicious about the status of the patient whom they say that apart from his usual sickness known to everyone in the community, he has been alright until the time he was picked by officials from the Ministry of health.

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