Uganda has registered a new case of the coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total to 122.
The new case is a Ugandan truck driver who arrived from Juba via Elegu border post. His sample was among the 2,296 that were tested on Monday at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe.
This brings the number of confirmed cases of Ugandan truck drivers to over 10. The drivers who tested positive have been coming from neighbouring countries.
Ministry of health officials say that they are tracing the driver and all the people he has come into contact with.
To reduce the risk of spread of coronavirus by positive truck drivers, the health ministry is expected to launch on site testing at the Malaba and Mutukula border posts this week. They are planning to use GeneXpert machines which will enable drivers leave points of entry with results.
Prof Pontiano Kaleebu, the executive director of the UVRI says that the GeneXpert machines can release results within one hour.
“The tests released using a GeneXpert machine take around 45 minutes to an hour. This means drivers will get their results before they leave border posts,” he said.
