Five Mbarara Hotels closed after guests tested positive for Covid19

The Mbarara Covid19 taskforce has closed five hotels after two people who had been there tested positive for Covid19.

The two patients were among the seven the Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed from results of sample tests carried out on July 30.

Uganda’s Covid19 infection toll stands at 1,154 out of the 272,805 samples the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) has tested since March 21.

The closed hotels are Rwampara Suites, Leisure Park International Hotel, Golden Monkey Guest House, Africa Guest House and Acacia Hotel.

Mbarara Deputy Resident District Commissioner Emmy Kateera Turyabagyenyi said the hotels would remain closed until they are deemed safe for guests.

Also, the task force will quarantine all the hotel staff for 14 days.

Read: Uganda records third Covid19 death; All three cases undetected until they turned fatal

UGANDA’S COMMUNITY CASES PUZZLE

Uganda’s Covid19 community cases remain a great concern to health officials, especially as some people have relaxed in their observance of guidelines MoH put in place to prevent the spread of the deadly respiratory disease.

Previously, MoH was largely preoccupied with cases of returnees from abroad and truck drivers. But community case reports in recent works means that Ugandans’ complacency in observing guidelines such as wearing face masks, handwashing and social distance aid quick spread of the disease.

Two of Uganda’s three Covid19 cases are from Kisenyi in Kampala. Although health workers have done a considerable job in ‘treating’ Covid19 patients, there are fears of many undetected cases — and possibly some unreported coronavirus-related deaths in communities.

There are also fears that an increase in community cases could overwhelm Uganda’s healthcare system, leading to more deaths.

In his last Coronavirus address, President Yoweri Museveni began by showing Ugandans videos of how Covid19 had devastated other countries, to the extent that medics turned away patients.