COVID-19: Health ministry deletes foreign recoveries, active cases

HEALTH   VIRUS

KAMPALA - The Ministry of Health has deducted the number of foreign nationals who have recovered from COVID-19 from the national recovery tally.

Yesterday, the Ministry sent tongues wagging when the day's COVID-19 update revealed that there were more recoveries as compared to the daily accumulative caseload.  Ugandans questioned the figures even when there was an explanation that the recoveries included foreigners and refugees while the cases recorded are only Ugandans.

In a press release issued on Tuesday bearing a stamp of the office of the Director-General Health Services, the ministry indicates that 958 Ugandans have recovered to date.

"The Ministry of Health would like to clarify that Uganda has now excluded foreign truck drivers who were treated and recovered at our hospitals among our recoveries," reads the statement.

In addition to this deduction, the Ministry has also removed the daily updates on the number of foreigners and refugees receiving treatment in Uganda.

By Monday, there were 19 foreigners and two refugees on admission in Uganda. These made up a total of 142 active cases on admission including Ugandan nationals. The recovering at that time was at 1,071.

Today, in the newly revised figures, the total accumulative cases stand at 1,072 while there are only 114 Ugandans on admission.

The case tally includes three drivers who tested positive for COVID-19 from the 2,383 total samples tested on July 20, 2020. The truck drivers arrived via Elegu, Malaba and Madi Opei border points.

The ministry also said that nine foreign truckers tested positive and were denied entry into the country.

However, even with this deletion, a section of Ugandans are still demanding to know how many foreign truck drivers have recovered, given the fact that there are others still on admission.