Uganda’s virus cases rise to 79 as more truckers test positive

Kampala. Uganda's confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to 79 after four more Tanzanian cargo truck drivers tested positive, the Ministry of Health said in its latest update.

The confirmed cases were among 1,578 samples taken from truck drivers on Sunday.

“All the new confirmed cases are Tanzanian truck drivers who arrived via Mutukula border. 411 samples from communities tested negative for Covid-19,” the Ministry tweeted on Monday morning.

A total of 1,989 samples were tested tested on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Uganda and South Sudan’s decisions to deport a Tanzanian and Kenyan nationals who tested positive for Covid-19 has strained relations among the EAC member countries, while also putting at risk cross-border movement of goods in the region.

The repatriations are against the World Health Organization's guidelines on how to handle pandemics such as Covid-19. The pandemic has also put EAC's common market and free movement protocols to the test.

Uganda is on record for having decided to repatriate a Tanzanian and Kenyan truck drivers who tested positive for coronavirus, while a South Sudanese taskforce on the Covid-19 pandemic also resolved to have two sick Kenyans evacuated by air.

“A male Kenyan truck driver, aged 27, was found positive among the 372 truck drivers tested yesterday. His sample was also collected at Malaba entry point. Arrangements are being made to return him to Kenya for treatment close to his family,” read a statement released on April 20 by Uganda’s Director General of Health Services, Dr Henry Mwebesa.

Source of concern

With an average of 1,000 trucks entering landlocked Uganda every day, long-distance drivers have become a key source of concern for Kampala, as they have proved to be the main source of imported coronavirus cases.

Out of 11 new Covid-19 positive cases reported in Uganda on Friday, six were Tanzanian truck drivers who arrived via the Mutukula border post while five were Kenyan truck drivers who entered the country through the Malaba and Busia border posts.

On Sunday, four more Tanzanian truck drivers tested positive for the virus.

However, Dr Mwebesa, in a telephone interview with The EastAfrican, denied that Uganda had adopted a policy of repatriating coronavirus patients to neighbouring countries.
“The truck driver in question returned to Kenya of his own volition. When we tracked him to the border, we were informed that after reaching his destination, Tororo Cement Company, he returned to Kenya on his own,” said Dr Mwebesa, adding that there are Kenyans on treatment at Mulago and Entebbe hospitals.