The Ministry of Health says it is going to test all journalists who are covering Covid-19 related activities to ensure that they are safe and not transmitting the virus.
While receiving donations at the ministry headquarters yesterday, Dr Diana Atwine, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said whereas they keep testing themselves every two weeks, journalists are not tested for the virus and yet they keep interacting with new people everyday.
“When you test negative, you become very careful. We want to ensure the journalists we work with are safe because we are still working with them,” she said.
Asked where and when the testing would start, she said the testing will take place at Mulago Hospital and the journalists will be informed.
When government announced the national lockdown, journalists were allowed to continue working because of the pivotal role the media provides to educate, inform entertain and be a watchdog service to the country.
In keeping with Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation guidelines of preventing the disease, most media houses adopted measures to safeguard themselves from getting their staff infected.