Ugandan authorities have blocked 36 truck drivers after they tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. In a statement issued Tuesday, the Director General of Health Services, Dr Henry Mwebesa said the total number of COVID-19 confirmed cases is now 264 in Uganda.
He added that “Thirty-six (36) foreign truck drivers who tested positive were handed back to their countries of origin.” This comes at the time Uganda is grappling with raising numbers of COVID-19 cases, many of them attributed to neighboring countries; Kenya and Tanzania.
In his recent address on coronavirus President Museveni said trans truck drivers will be tested for COVID-19 from their home countries and won’t be allowed on Ugandan soil if found positive.
The latest confirmed cases include according to Dr Mwebesa, include; a 28-year-old Ugandan male, a resident of Bwikwe district and a contact to one of the previously confirmed truck drivers.
He was under quarantine at the time of confirmation and is currently admitted at the China-Uganda Friendship hospital Naguru, two Ugandan male truck drivers who arrived from Tanzania via Mutukula, both of them are currently admitted at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital.
Meanwhile, the 36 foreign truck drivers include;17 Tanzanians, 15 Kenyans, three Eritreans and one Burundian who tested positive for Covid-19.
According to the Ministry of Health statement, currently, there are 80 admitted COVID-19 confirmed cases and all are in stable condition. To date, Uganda has registered a total of 65 COVID-19 recoveries and no related death recorded.