KAMPALA, UGANDA: President Museveni will next week address the nation” on the steps going forward” on COVID-19 amid rising cases of flu and cough, which are symptomatic indicators of the pandemic.
In a tweet on Friday evening, Mr Museveni said he met with the national task force to craft a way forward on tackling the disease, should there be positive cases recorded in the country. The team he met at State House Entebbe comprises professional scientists from various government agencies, including the health ministry, Office of the Prime Minister, trade ministry, finance ministry, and joint security agencies.
Museveni tweeted on Friday; “I met the COVID-19 National Task Force this afternoon and we discussed the Corona situation in the country. I will update the country next week on the steps going forward.”
Dr Henry Mwebesa, the director general of health services in the Healthy Ministry, however, assured Ugandans that “there is no evidence of any COVID-19 resurgence” in the country, but advised individuals who are due for their COVID-19 booster dose are encouraged to do so.”
The Ministry’s statement comes against the backdrop of a new wave of viral influenza illness “circulating within the population”, that is characterised by a runny nose, headache, intermittent fevers, dry cough, and general body weakness.
The ministry said, “The trend is consistent with the seasonal influenza pattern that has two annual peaks that coincide with the rainy seasons”.
Consequently, the ministry has urged symptomatic individuals to seek clinical care and the general public to practice “good hand hygiene and avoid public gatherings” if they have any of the mentioned symptoms.
During the pandemic, Uganda recorded 170, 671 cases of COVID-19, and 3,632 related deaths.
The majority of the deaths happened during the second wave of the pandemic featuring the Delta variant as countries were brought to their knees by infections.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), at least seven million people died of coronavirus. The agency’s chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the actual statistic was “likely” more than double higher.
Earlier this May, the UN’s health agency (WHO) declared that COVID-19 no longer represents a “global health emergency. But Ghebreyesus was quick to caution that “the worst thing any country can do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that COVID-19 is nothing to worry about”.
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