President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to take extra and necessary precaution so as to protect themselves against the deadly and ravaging COVID-19 alias coronavirus.
In a message posted on his Facebook on Saturday, President Museveni urged all Ugandans to avoid shaking hands and regularly washing them as the government continues to study the virus to come up with better means of protecting all Ugandans.
“Take personal precautions, and look out for your colleagues too. The government will take all measures to safeguard you as well. Meanwhile, we shall keep studying this coronavirus,” Museveni tweeted. Adding that, “Coronavirus is real; it does not kill as much and fast like Ebola but spreads at a very terrific rate. It undermines economies because it is disruptive and inconvenient.”
Museveni urges heads of different places of prayer and worship to work with the Health ministry to ensure that the faithfuls are not exposed to risk. Museveni’s call comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling upon all countries to do more to prevent the spread of the virus because no country is safe.
According to WHO figures, more than 2,800 people have died from the virus and 83,000 infections have been confirmed in 54 countries across the world including Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt. Washing hands with water and soap is one of the recommended WHO measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
However, in Uganda handwashing isn’t being practised in many public places. At places of worship such as Watoto Church, St Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe and St Luke in Ntinda there were no handwashing facilities. Hotels that had provided handwashing or disinfection stations at the peak of the Ebola outbreak like Kampala Serena and Hotel Africana currently don’t have handwashing facilities.
Arcades downtown Kampala where many traders rely on merchandise from China like GazaLand and Galilaaya also lack handwashing facilities. Dr Bernard Opar, an infection control expert in the Health ministry, says it is important for all public places to provide handwashing facilities.
“We have not yet received any coronavirus case in the country but that doesn’t mean that we are safe. We need to remain vigilant and one way to do that is enforce public handwashing. We are encouraging all public places like churches and hotels to provide such facilities,” Dr Opar said.
