Fear Intensifies As Uganda Confirms 1st COVID 19 Death

  • by Mary Ociiti
  • July 23, 2020

Uganda has this afternoon confirmed her first Covid 19 death.

The victim is a 34 year old Ugandan female, resident of Namisindwa District who presented with COVID like signs and symptoms: fever, dry cough, headache and difficulty in breathing.

This has been revealed by the Director General Health Services, Dr. Henry Mwebesa, at Ministry of Health confirmed the news during a presser this evening.

“In our earlier report we had indicated that the deceased was not a Ugandan. Further investigations have since established that she was a Ugandan from Manafwa, Bubulo East, Namabya- Namunyali- Sisongofwa,” the Ministry said, adding: “The postmortem samples from the deceased were confirmed positive for SARS-COV-2 by 4 laboratories: UVRI, CPHL, Tororo and Makerere. In addition, findings at postmortem showed features of acute pneumonia; findings that are consistent with COVID-19 infection.” Mebesa stated.

The Ministry added that the Namasindwa District Task Force has been reactivated to coordinate the district response. So far, thirty (30) contacts to the deceased have been listed and placed under quarantine by the health authorities in Namisindwa (n=18)  and Mbale (n=12) districts.

The listed contacts so far include family members, and healthcare workers, the Ministry added.