Kenyan trucker in hiding after testing positive in Uganda
Monday May 11 2020
Trucks wait to enter Uganda at Malaba border. Uganda started imposing restrictions on truckers late April after incoming drivers increasingly tested positive for the disease. PHOTO | BRIAN ONGORO | AFP
Five more truck drivers, among them Kenyans, have tested for the coronavirus in Uganda, bringing the country’s tally to 121.
Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said the confirmed cases are among 1,498 truckers whose samples were tested on Sunday.
“This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases to 121 in Uganda. The new cases are two Ugandan and three Kenyan truck drivers who arrived via Elegu and Malaba points of entry,” she tweeted.
The minister added that all 341 community samples tested negative for Covid-19.
“Total samples tested today (Sunday) at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) are 1,839,” she added.
Meanwhile, security and health officials are hunting for a Kenyan truck driver who went into hiding after his samples tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday at Malaba border point.
The Aswa Region Police Spokesman Patrick Okema said the driver abandoned his truck, registration number KBR 614H, when he arrived in Elegu on May 8, 2020.
Mr Okema has appealed to the public to cooperate with authorities and volunteer any information on the driver’s whereabouts to prevent further spread of the virus.
"Efforts to trace for this patient who has gone in hiding are ongoing. A security team at the border and medical officers are following this matter seriously until we trace him. This fight is not only for the security and medical teams. It calls for a concerted effort. Whoever knows where this gentleman could be, particularly in Elegu or surrounding areas, should alert the security team so that he's picked and taken to the treatment centre," he said.