WAKISO-UGANDA/NEWSDAY:The Namboole stadium COVID-19 treatment centre in Kampala, has recorded a major drop in cases, with only 40 patients currently in admission.
Just a few weeks ago, there were fears that the health system would collapse with single day deaths increasing to 50, and with the highest going to 58 people.
At Mandela Stadium Namboole, Dr Ivan Kisuule who heads the facility says they have been recording over a hundred cases each day. He explains that every other hour an ambulance would bring in a patient needing oxygen therapy. Kisuule says that 20 patients at this facility died.
While the facility was initially set up to be an auxiliary unit admitting those with a mild or moderate disease but have other pre-existing conditions like diabetes, asthma and cancer among others for close monitoring, it was turned into a treatment facility due to the strain that came with the increase in cases.
Of the 40 patients currently admitted, 20 are severely sick and are on oxygen.
The current drop in patients in Namboole isn’t a surprise as hospitals elsewhere are also starting to register a reduction.
Dr Monica Musenero, an epidemiologist and Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation says the epi curve has flattened. She attributes it to restrictions in travel and socializing with the current partial lockdown.
In epidemiology, the idea of slowing a virus spread so that fewer people need to seek treatment at any given time is known as flattening the epi curve.
The cases at Namboole could reduce further and again pick up in the near future, predictions by both the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health show.
Kisuule says it’s because of this that they are currently restocking the sundries. He says already they have up to 200 oxygen cylinders in stock, in addition to new beds and mattresses preparing to house up to 2,000 patients just in case the expected third wave becomes more violent than the current second one.
However, as infection rates start to steadily drop, fears of losing guard linger. For instance, currently at Namboole while there are water points at the entrance, people are not obliged to sanitize as they access the facility. URN didn’t observe anybody use the wash facility for the two hours spent at the venue.
Although, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Ministry of Health Public Relations Officer says the facility is well stocked with sanitizers in addition to water tanks at all entrances.
As of today, Uganda had recorded a cumulative 86,140 infections since March 2020. Of these, 559 are new cases. Also, the country has recorded 29 new deaths bringing the total number of deaths to 2,062.
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