Health officials addressing the press
Uganda has confirmed the first COVID-19 death. The deceased is a 34 year old Ugandan female, resident of Namisindwa District who presented with COVID-19 like signs and symptoms: fever, dry cough, headache and difficulty in breathing.
Dr. Henry Mwebesa, the Director General-Health Services at Ministry of Health confirmed the news during a presser this evening.
“In our earlier report we had indicated that the deceased was not a Ugandan. Further investigations have since established that she was a Ugandan from Manafwa, Bubulo East, Namabya- Namunyali- Sisongofwa,” the Ministry said, adding: “The postmortem samples from the deceased were confirmed positive for SARS-COV-2 by 4 laboratories: UVRI, CPHL, Tororo and Makerere. In addition, findings at postmortem showed features of acute pneumonia; findings that are consistent with COVID-19 infection.”
The Ministry added that the Namasindwa District Task Force has been reactivated to coordinate the district response. So far, thirty ( 30) contacts to the deceased have been listed and placed under quarantine by the health authorities in Namisindwa (n=18) and Mbale (n=12) districts.
The listed contacts so far include family members, and healthcare workers, the Ministry added.
“The process of contact identification and listing is still ongoing, and we believe the number of contacts may increase as the extensive epidemiological investigation evolves,” the Ministry said.
Uganda has 1,069 confirmed cases (Only Ugandans) and 188 Active Cases.
Recoveries of both Ugandans and non-Ugandans stand at 1,071.
