Uganda turns back 32 foreign Covid-19 positive truck drivers as new hi-tech 3000-tests-a-day machine goes into action

Government of Uganda on May 18^th turned 32 foreign truck drivers who tested positive for Covid-19 back to their respective countries. This followed the testing of 1,743 samples of truck drivers.

12 new Ugandan cases were also confirmed from this batch and the patients evacuated to hospital- ministry of Uganda twitted last night.

The total confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 260.

The Ministry of Health also on May 17th announced that government’s Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL)/ National Health Laboratory and Diagnostic Services (UNHLS) had received cobas 8800, a real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine with the capacity of running 3,000 tests per day and about 192 tests per hour.

Alongside the machine, CPHL/UNHLS also received the initial 15,000 Covid-19 test kits for the cobas 8800.

This state of the art technology, according to Ministry of Health, exists only in 3 countries in Africa; South Africa, Uganda and Kenya. CPHL is one of the laboratories in Uganda that has been assessed and dedicated to carry out COVID-19 testing, as part of Government of Uganda plan to scale up testing in the country. Made by the Switzerland based Roche Industries, the cobas8000 tester now promises more robust and faster turnaround of results and will relieve pressure from the machines and personnel at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) that has until today been the sole testing centre.

Testing for COVID-19 at CPHL started on May 17th.

President Museveni directed that only truck drivers with negative test results will be allowed into the country and following the directive Ministry of Health on May 16^th met with representatives of the Truck Owners and National Logistics Platform and resolved to mobilize, counsel and test all truck drivers employed in Uganda.

It was also agreed that all truck owners would implement a “Truck Driver Journey Management System”- a mobile application for monitoring all truck drivers along their journey.

The rapid-testing coupled with the presidential orders is expected to relieve Uganda of the pressure from imported cases by the truck drivers.  

Out of the 260 confirmed cases to date, 249 cases (95.7 per cent) are imported cases, 3 per cent (8/260) are local cases while 1.3 per cent (3/260) have an unknown chain of transmission.

The Cumulative number of foreign truck drivers who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Uganda is 137. Of these, 24.8 per cent (34/137) truck drivers have returned to their respective countries. This does not include the 32 who were turned away before entering Uganda.

Uganda has not registered any Covid-19 related death. 63 cases have recovered todate and 57 are admitted in various hospitals around the country.

Last night president Museveni also announced that government was in the process of equipping all the 13 regional referral hospitals in the country with an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and at least 10 ventilators per hospital.

“Procurement is ongoing,” he said.