Medics call on politicians to comply with COVID-19 measures as cases spike

COVID-19 |

As the coronavirus penetrates the Ugandan community, health workers say they have done their part on the frontline and now the power to curtail its spread largely lies with the rest of the people.

"The public should know we have handed this thing (COVID-19) to them and it might explode into a crisis that we will not manage," Dr Misaki Wayengera, the chairperson of the scientific advisory committee in the health ministry, said yesterday.

This is the time, according to medics, when there should be strict adherence to the public health measures designed to contain the disease that has killed over 770,000 people and attacked more than 21.6 million globally. There are over 13.6 million recoveries.

"Are people wearing masks? Are they keeping distance? And we do not mean only physical distance. If you do not have to go to work, do not, if you do not have to go to a gathering, stay away," Wayengera said.

He added that political meetings should only have a maximum of 50 people, but politicians have violated that requirement at the risk of endangering many lives.

"The other day, the Lord Mayor (Erias Lukwago) was not wearing a mask when he was crossing to Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). You cannot be a leader who does not care about the electorate, then there was investment minister Evelyn Anite and her gathering recently. Politicians should know that they can be a precursor for a dangerous situation," Wayengera warned.

He said the 15 people in Uganda who have succumbed to the disease are testimony to the inability of the health system to manage high numbers of patients.

Two more deaths - both males aged 33 and 63 - were reported by the ministry yesterday. They had been admitted to Rubaga Hospital with COVID-19 signs. A total of 60 cases were also reported yesterday, taking the case count to 1,560, with 1,165 recoveries.

COVID-19 kills young people, too

The young people, Wayengera noted, should not be under the illusion that the disease cannot kill them.

"What surprises us in pathology is not what has killed the person, but how the person managed to live with the disease. When the virus gets you with underlying illness, even if you are young, there might be problems. And now young people have noncommunicable diseases," Wayengera noted.

He added that the disease is now widespread, especially in Kampala, and that the national case count is not even representative of the problem. Uganda has mainly tested long-distance truck drivers and Ugandans returning home plus their contacts.

Medics have said as the disease continues to enter communities, contact tracing would become diffi cult and the system would be overwhelmed.

"We cannot test everyone because it is expensive. We need the public to understand it is now their role. The disease can be controlled with simple public health measures," Wayengera said.

Experts have also urged people feeling unwell not to go to clinics so that they do not expose health workers and patients to danger.

Some of the people who have died from the pandemic in Uganda were fi rst treated in private health facilities.

Prof. Pontiano Kaleebu, the head of the Uganda Virus Research Institute, said people should take the public health measures to heart and adhere to them.

"The measures are in place. Why are they not being followed? The public should know it would be diffi cult to manage the health system with many cases," he warned.

A medic, who asked to not be named, said the COVID-19 campaign has been largely executed by national actors and that is partly the reason why it is not taking root in communities.

"It has been hijacked by politicians. People in communities are not wearing masks and when you wear it, people wonder what is going on. Such community interventions require working with the local leaderships. It  has been kept at the national level," she added.

The doctors said the COVID-19 campaign executors need to review their approach.

Most vulnerable

Dr Asuman Lukwago, the former health ministry permanent secretary, said the growth in COVID-19 cases poses a grave threat to the vulnerable segments of the population - the old people and those with underlying conditions.

While over 60% of the people who get the virus reportedly remain asymptomatic, he noted that these could continue to spread the disease to the vulnerable groups.

"COVID-19, as we have been told, will eventually circulate through the population and some people might develop immunity. People who are not showing symptoms will heal after 14  days, but after passing on the disease to others who may be vulnerable," he added.

However, even with available information showing that some people could get COVID-19 and recover without ever realizing they contracted the virus, the public should adhere to the set guidelines to minimise deaths from the pandemic.

He added that initially, medical attention was focused on controlling the pandemic, but it is now being directed at minimising deaths by protecting the vulnerable population.

There is a substantial number of Ugandans suffering from cancer and hypertension, ideal conditions for COVID-19 to thrive.

During his World Population Day address last month, President Yoweri Museveni said 534,000 people have heart disease, 891,000 are grappling with high blood pressure and 229,000 are battling with diabetes. This is close to two million people. It is estimated that 1.4 million Ugandans are living with HIV/AIDS.

Over 70% of Ugandans are said to be less than 30 years old. But not all of them can beat COVID-19 because they are suffering from lethal ailments and conditions, such as NCDs, asthma and obesity.

Lukwago explained that symptoms would only appear in people with the virus after the infection has developed into a disease.

"If you do not get symptoms, it means the virus is going through you like flu and there is no worry for you. This virus becomes a threat to you when it develops into a disease and then symptoms emerge," he said.

Dr Nelson Musoba, the head of the Uganda AIDS Commission, said the growing pandemic poses a threat to HIV/AIDS response since the Government needs substantial resources to deal with the emergency created by the virus.

"The funding for HIV/AIDS treatment this year is already insufficient. There are no funds for HIV prevention and young people could be predisposed to engage in transactional sex because of the economic problems created by COVID-19," he added.

Besides limited national funding, the global HIV response is suffering, too, as donor countries are battling the pandemic.

"Even the little that is available has to go to COVID-19 response and that is why the growing case count is a problem. If I go to the fi nance ministry today, the priority is COVID-19 response. We need to stick to the public health measures," Musoba noted.