In the district of Kampala affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the government of Uganda started distributing food to needy citizens. The exercise was commissioned by the Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister who is also the governor and president of the Uganda Coronavirus Drive for the Distribution of Relief Foods.
The Uganda government said that a pilot will have to be introduced to Wakiso, another high-risk COVID-19 district, one of the Kampala suburbs, in Bweise. The pilot would then travel to Wakiso.
“Most people have been affected by the national lockdown, among other urgent basic needs, they have no food. The Uganda Red Cross, through its technical team led by Paul Okot, the emergency response manager noted the need to prioritize the most vulnerable people, taking into consideration the resources available to the government. “We have used spherical principles and local practice to provide relief for standard operating procedures and to determine how the government chooses the vulnerable and distributes them. Sugar, milk, maize flour and beans will be given to beneficiaries, “said Okot.
Okot added that in these emergencies, the Red Cross has a subsidiary function that government permits. “The teams from Red Cross will help activities such as registration of clients, food distribution and the promotion of washing and grooming, risk management and psychosocial aid to those who need these services.”
The Prime Minister emphasized that the high incidence of reported cases of COVID-19 was given priority in the regions of Kampala and Wakiso. If resources are open, other districts would also be helped. It gave other distribution guidelines, including distribution of food relief from home to home/door to door to ensure social distance and prevent crowds.
“We do not want crowds. We also want absolute transparency, absolute accountability. Anybody who will go against this will be provoking the wrath of the law to take its course, ”he added.
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A cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in the Wuhan Province of Hubei was announced by the Government of China on 31 December 2019. A new coronavirus, which was called COVID-19, was described. The COVID-19 outbreak was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January. At least one confirmed case of COVID-19 has now been recorded in every continent and the possibility of further dissemination across countries is very high.
The COVID-19 epidemic has become an epicentre for Europe. Many European countries have shut down their borders and limited their movement. In China, there are more than 19 cases of COVID-19 in the country.
The Uganda Case There are currently 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Uganda. 3,310 total samples were tested. In the original 1040 to 613, the number of citizens in institutional quarantine was reduced. 427 were discharged and 855 confirmation cases are being tracked. The reported cases are assisted, handled and reacted to drugs steadily in healthy conditions. They are admitted at Mulago National Referral hospital (20), Entebbe grade B Hospital (30), Adjumani hospital (1) and Hoima hospital (1).
Data Source: Uganda Red Cross