The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
📌 #Uganda UPDATE
✳️ 97 new #COVID19 cases
✳️ The cumulative total confirmed cases now 2,263
🔺Contacts & alerts 90:
Kampala- 59
Wakiso- 11
Buikwe- 6
Luweero- 3
Namisindwa- 3
Mukono- 2
Jinja- 2
Kabale- 1
Oyam – 1
Tororo – 1
🔺1 returnee from Mali
🔺6 truck drivers
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | On a day when Uganda announced 97 new COVID-19 confirmed cases, to add the to the 318 a day earlier, the Chief Political Commissar of the Uganda Police Force Asan Kasingye has confirmed that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
In a tweet, Kasingye said ” BAD NEWS!! I’AM #COVID19 POSITIVE. 💥”
The cumulative total confirmed cases now is 2,263 but with recoveries at a healthy 1,226.
Information and ICT Minister Judith Nabakooba Sunday also addressed the media, warning of a new phase as cases continued to rise.
“We all now know that Uganda has entered a critical stage in its fight against COVID-19. The public generally must therefore admit that we have ourselves to blame for the current situation. We have failed to take seriously the guidance from our experts,” Nabakooba said.
She admitted that Kampala, the capital city has now turned out be the biggest source of COVID-19 infections and deaths. As of yesterday, Kampala had registered 65 new cases.
She said that their research has shown that almost 90% of all these new infections in Kampala are from people using taxis and buses. She said public transporters in the taxi parks and bus terminals failed to administer the guidelines that were given when the lockdown was lifted.
“I therefore want to warn all people who continue to use public transport that you are putting your life at a high risk of catching COVID-19. If you must use public transport, ensure to have your mask on all the time, remember to sanitise when boarding and when disembarking.”
Reading about Uganda’s COVID_19 numbers of 2,263 infections, with a recovery of 1,226, that is over 50% per this report; I shake my head in amazement at the panic by government officials and public. Granted, every death and infection of human life matters, and should be taken as a public health concern. Yet, surrounded with over 5.7 million cases here in the “Good Ol’ US of A,” I cannot but envy you in the Pearl! Goes to show, indeed, that money cannot only buy love, but it also cannot buy public health, a sound and committed public policy, smart leadership, or a shared common social concern for one another. These are the fallacies of our President American Leadership. We did not expect that five months later, we would still be hidden in our “bunker beds,” masked, and social distancing.
I applaud the contact tracing mechanism instituted by the Government of Uganda, operating through national and local officials and institutions. That speaks to the shrewd leadership in this pandemic of the head of state, speaking as someone with very little admiration for this lifetime government of Uganda. Hopefully, the “contact tracing” will not creep into unnecessarily antagonizing people’s rights and freedoms beyond the public health concerns. COVID_19 contract tracing strategies should not become a spy network abused by government machinery.
Please keep wearing face masks –and NO! You do not need to spend taxpayers’ importing and distributing free masks countrywide. I know Uganda ‘can’t’ make needles, but you have hands, pieces of cloth, and thread to sew face masks. Keep active and healthy –hopefully, you can still go out for a jog, ride a bike, or in-home exercise. Whatever you do, remind us that no American financial or technology advancement can supersede the African spirit of “Ubuntu,” I am my neighbor’s keeper.