Seven issues Museveni pointed out in his latest Ebola address to the nation

President Yoweri Museveni for the 4th time addressed the nation on the issue of the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak that has put the country on tenterhooks ever since the health ministry on 20th September announced Uganda had been attacked by the deadly disease.

The last time the president addressed the nation on the matter was on 15th October 2022, he issued restrictions on movements into and out of Mubende and Kasanda Districts which are the areas where this Ebola outbreak started.

From that time, Ebola has since then spread to other districts notably Masaka and Jinja.

Since the first case of Ebola was discovered in Mubende in mid-September, there are a total of 141 confirmed cases, 55 of these have died while 73 have recovered and 13 are admitted to the Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs).

Bunyangabu, Kagadi districts free of Ebola

The president used the Tuesday night address to announce that the districts of Bunyangabu and Kagadi are now Ebola-free.

They have been dropped from the follow-up list because they have completed 42 days, which is 2 incubation cycles of the virus, without a case, the president told the nation.

Quoting data from the ministry of health, Ebola is now in six districts; Mubende, Kasanda, Kampala City, Wakiso, Masaka and Jinja.

Lockdown helping curb the spread of the virus

While there was a public outcry when the president put Mubende and Kassanda districts under lockdown, the move, according to the president’s report, is paying off.

The president revealed that while they used to record five cases of Ebola per day at the time the lockdown was put in place, after 21 days of the lockdown, the cases were reduced to 3 cases per day.

He also attributed this to intensifying control interventions which included; door to door sensitization of the communities by the Village Health Teams, training of the health workers on Infection Prevention Control in both public and private health facilities, safe dignified burials of all deceased in the communities and hospitals and early treatment of cases at the Ebola Treatment Units

“Our efforts are beginning to pay off as we have seen a decline in the number of cases in Mubende. For example, for 18 days, we did not get a case until yesterday when we got one case,” the president said before thanking the people of Mubende for their determination to end this epidemic.

Boda boda helping people escape lockdown

While Mubende was registering some progress, the president highlighted those boda boda riders who were allowed to only carry luggage in the lockdown risking undoing this success because they are carrying passengers.

This poses a risk of transfer of infection to other districts, the president warned.

“With the help of boda bodas, people are escaping through Kyaka II refugee camp and end up in facilities in Kampala City and other districts,” the president revealed.

The president revealed further that a woman in Mubende using a boda boda travelled through Kyaka II up to Mbarara hospital where she was delivered by Cesarean Section; she is under quarantine.

Another woman escaped to Kireka to pick up her HIV medicines. The president warned that the habit of escaping is not acceptable because it exports Ebola to other parts of the country.

Lack of cooperation in Kassanda

While efforts to curb the spread of Ebola are making headways in Mubende, this is not the case in neighbouring Kassanda where there was an explosion of over 41 cases within 5 days and 10 deaths arising out of exhuming a dead Ebola body.

The other reasons for the rise in Ebola cases in Kassanda are congregations in Bibanda and playing pool in Kikandwa Parish. The situation, however, according to the president, is sobering after the extension of lockdown by another 21 days that are yet to expire.

“Progress in Kasanda has been slow because of lack of cooperation among some district political leaders, poor adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), myths and misconceptions, and visiting traditional healers,” the president stated.

The president noted that Kasanda District has four major challenges including passenger relaying boda bodas as is in Mubende, frequent visits to traditional healers, myths, misconceptions and misinformation, and escape of Ebola contacts using the trucks carrying timber logs which also exposes the driver and turnboy to infection.

New directives

As part of the continued efforts to stop the spread of Ebola, the president issued new directives. These include the health ministry and local government to intensify sensitization of boda bodas so they can understand the dangers of exporting Ebola and prohibition of traditional doctors from carrying out rituals during the Ebola outbreak.

Other directives include boda bodas stopping the practice of carrying passengers – should they continue, the president warned that he will stop them from operating wholly, and prohibition of all trucks carrying logs from moving into and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts with immediate effect until the end of the 21 days.

Kampala is yet to understand the seriousness of Ebola

The president warned that with the explosive population of Greater Kampala, the city is at risk. Currently, the number of cases in Greater Kampala are; Kawempe Division (3), Makindye Division (1), Rubaga Division (14) and Wakiso District (2).

The president said a heavily populated area like Greater Kampala presents challenges in contact tracing, follow up and home quarantine. He, therefore, directed that identified contacts must be put under institutional quarantine.

Commenting on the contacts that escaped from Kampala to Masaka and Jinja, the president said that the population and health workers in Kampala and the entire country have not yet properly understood the dangers of Ebola and how it is spread.

“Ebola is easy to manage if all people cooperate and follow the guidance of the health workers. Ebola is spread by contaminated clothing, beddings, surfaces, and body fluids such as saliva, vomitus, sweat, stool, blood and semen of sick people. The main entry points are the mouth, eyes and broken skin especially of the hands,” the president said.

He advised individuals who have had contact with or been in an area where there are cases of Ebola and are potential contacts not to run away but rather call the health workers for management.

Uganda remains safe

Amidst fears that Ebola is negatively affecting the tourism sector after reports of trips and conferences cancellation, the report was quick to assure the country and the world that Uganda is safe.

“I would like to reassure the international community, tourists and conference organizers and the entire Ugandan population, that

The government has put in place measures to control the outbreak. The Ebola outbreak is localized to only 6 out of the 146 districts.

Uganda remains safe and we welcome international guests,” he said.

Adding: “Government is doing all it takes to control this epidemic and avoid exportation outside Uganda. In this regard, the list of Ebola contacts has been availed to the Immigration Authorities to prevent them from international travel. In addition, there is screening at the airport and land border points of entry for temperature, symptoms and history of contact.”