Nine COVID-19 patients discharged from Entebbe Hospital

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Entebbe Regional Referral Hospital has discharged nine truck drivers who have recovered from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The latest discharge brings the total recoveries to 640 out of the 774 cases in Uganda.

Last Monday, the hospital discharged 47 patients, the biggest number of recovered patients from one facility since March when the first COVID-19 case was recorded. Another group of 44 patients were discharged from the same hospital on Thursday. This left the hospital with 18 patients nine of whom were discharged yesterday.

The hospital director Dr Moses Muwanga says the patients discharged spent an average of 14 days in the hospital. So far, the facility with a capacity of 200 beds has handled 158 patients.

But while Uganda seems to be making progress, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases, registering more than 183,000 new infections in 24 hours bringing the total to over 8.8 million cases worldwide with more than 465,000 deaths.

Some countries continue to see a rapid increase in the number of cases and deaths while others that had successfully suppressed transmission are now seeing an upswing as they reopen their economies.

“It seems that almost everyday we reach a new and grim record”, said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressing journalists on Monday at the UN health agency’s latest media briefing.

He added that all countries are facing a delicate balance between protecting their people while minimizing social and economic damage. He also urged countries to double-down on the fundamental public health measures that are known to limit spread. These include finding and testing suspected cases isolating and caring for the sick, tracing and quarantining contacts and protecting health workers.

******

URN