Senior environmentalist succumbs to COVID-19

HEALTH  | COVID-19


The Covid-19 death toll continued to rise, claiming a senior wetland conservationist Paul Mafabi Gumunye on Tuesday (September 15, 2020). The former director of Environment at the Ministry of Water and Environment passed away just a day after being diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday.

Family sources, who spoke to the New Vision, confirmed that Mafabi fell ill on Friday, was diagnosed on Monday, and passed on Tuesday while receiving treatment.

John Wasikye, a close confidant to the deceased, noted that Uganda had lost a great environmentalist. "Mafabi has been working on a project under the ministry of water to restore swamps across Uganda," Wasikye noted.

Mafabi was also the National project coordinator, Building Resilient Communities Wetland Ecosystem, and Associated Catchment Areas in Uganda project.

The death toll in Uganda as of Tuesday stands at 58, while the cumulative confirmed cases of Ugandans to-date is 5,123, with 2,333 recoveries.

Mafabi joins a growing list of famous personalities who have succumbed to the pandemic. On Tuesday still, the Pallisa Woman Member of Parliament Faith Alupo died while she was receiving treatment at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

Others who have fallen to the global scourge are Francis Xavier Kitaka, the founder and chairman of both Copper Uganda Ltd and MTK Uganda Ltd, who died on Saturday at the age of 85 years.

The Ministry of Health has continued to urge Ugandan to remain alert and help prevent the spread of this virus. Every individual is required to protect themselves by wearing a mask properly, wash hands with clean water and soap or sanitize, keep your social distance, and avoid overcrowding among the several other standard operating procedures.