Ugandan military starts manufacturing coronavirus masks

Personnel of the Local Defence Unit (LDU), a paramilitary force composed of civilians, delivers maize flour and beans on the first day of food distribution for people affected by the coronavirus lockdown in Kampala, on April 4, 2020. PHOTO | SUMY SADURNI | AFP

Kampala,

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday said the military had started manufacturing N95 face masks and surgical masks to address a shortage amid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Museveni said in a televised address that the National Enterprise Corporation, the army's business arm, would supply a million surgical masks and 50,000 N95 masks.

The President said other factories in the country were also gearing up to start manufacturing masks, sanitisers and other personal protective gear.

Some of the health workers on the frontline of fighting the pandemic said they did not have proper gear to enable them do their work well.

President Museveni said that once the local manufacture of the products started, medics would have enough protective gear.

Uganda currently has 53 confirmed cases of the virus. The government fears the number will rise since some of the confirmed cases interacted with the public before they were quarantined.