The Kalangala district Covid-19 task force has quarantined at least 1,000 residents at Nkose island after the district recorded its second coronavirus disease case. This literally means that all residents at the Island have been sent into self isolation.
The new case is of an adult female whose samples were collected in Buvuma health centre IV on August 28 but she later moved to Nkose landing site, Mazinga sub-county in Kalangala district where she was traced.
As a result, the task force has directed that all residents on the landing site undergo self-isolation as they wait for mass testing. Godfrey Hadubi, the Kalangala district health inspector said the task force has resolved to restrict the movement of people to and from the island as a way of preventing further spread of the virus.
According to Hadubi, the island will have to serve as the quarantine site because they cannot afford to put all the suspected contacts in the institutional quarantine due to associated the costs the district cannot meet at the moment.
Kalangala district recently closed down its quarantine centre gazetted at Bishop Dunstan Nsubuga Memorial secondary school due to lack of funds.
“The task force could not pick up all the contacts because the quarantine centre was temporarily closed due to lack of funds. We have preferred that we quarantine them on the island because it is what we can afford,” he noted.
Hadubi, adds that working with the local village leadership, the district task force is also moving in to enforce strict adherence to the ministry of Health safety guidelines, that include wearing of face masks by individuals on the landing site.
The patient has been transferred to Masaka Regional Referral hospital for management. Kalangala district registered their first confirmed COVID-19 case in April this year, of a male adult, a returnee from the United Arab Emirates. \
*******
URN