MULAGO NATIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL ISOLATION UNIT: ONLY THREE PEOPLE TESTED POSITIVE WHICH SHOWED CONTACT TRACING SAVES

By Goodluck Musinguzi

Hon Jane Ruth Aceng, Minister of Health said Kampala City and the populous Wakiso district were saved from Ebola-Sudan due to the robust contact tracing. All contacts were hosted at Mulago National Referral Hospital after the Ministry of Health made sure the Capital city was safe.

Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said in a statement that only three individuals from among the 60 contacts in our Mulago isolation facility tested positive for Ebola these were contacts to the case from Kassanda who passed on in Mulago Hospital. The three positives were taken to Entebbe Isolation center keeping the others safe. They had been under institutional quarantine in the Mulago isolation unit”.

Dr Rosette Byanyima, Executive Director of Mulago National Hospital says “the isolation unit is separate from the hospital and is managed by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with Mulago. Good thing is that those patients were transferred to Entebbe Isolation in stable condition. It’s good they have been under isolation right from the time they were known to be contacts of Ebola cases”

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni announced 21 days of lockdown for Mubende and Kassanda districts after issuing the guidelines given by the Ministry of Health in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease so that people don’t leave these districts to populous areas.

He said “I have come back, the third time, to talk to you about the Ebola outbreak that we have in the districts of Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kassanda, Kagadi and Bunyangabu. We now have 58 total confirmed cases and 19 deaths.

So far, 20 people have recovered from Ebola. Last time, I spoke to you about some people that were difficult, lying to us, hijacking dead bodies and moving from district to district including coming to Kampala City. This movement and deceit have not changed and the risk of spreading Ebola to other parts of the country remains very high.

Lastly, for Kampala City, while the two cases that tested positive came from Mubende District and are regarded as Mubende cases, because of the presence of contacts of these two cases and the risks of infection, I have directed a full mobilization of Kampala City into a response mode. This should cover the Kampala Metropolitan area.