Uganda's Covid-19 cases rise to 126 as four truck drivers test positive
Wednesday May 13 2020
Oil tankers delivering fuel to Uganda queue at the Busia border. Four more truck drivers have tested positive for Covid-19 in Uganda. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Four truck drivers have tested positive for Covid-19 in Uganda, bringing the total number of cases to 126, the Health ministry reported Tuesday.
Two of the confirmed cases are Ugandans while the other two are Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals. The Kenyan and Ugandans are believed to have entered the country through the Elegu border post while the Tanzanian was tested at Mutukula border post.
The four cases were part of 1,478 samples of truck drivers that were tested by the Uganda Virus Research Institute. So far, Uganda has tested more than 10,000 truck drivers.
The testing of truck drivers as well as the identification and tracking of positive cases has been an issue of contention among many Ugandans with the fear that the drivers will lead to the spread of the disease.
But the Heads of States across East Africa on Tuesday agreed on a number of conditions concerning handling the Covid-19 outbreak in the community.
One of the issues agreed upon was the development of a harmonised system for certification and sharing of Covid-19 test results.