Denis Okello, the Assistant District Health Officer Amuru says they are changing the vaccination strategy by conducting door to door covid-19 vaccination for eligible persons.
Dr. Stephen Obbo, the Director Lira Regional Referral Hospital advised the community to embrace the mass vaccination exercise taking place now saying the majority of people being admitted in the treatment unit are those who are not vaccinated.
Kitgum District was allocated 407 million Shillings in July to facilitate the work of the taskforce and implement interventions for the control of Covid-19. The funding would cover expenses on case management, surveillance, communication and risk, among others.
Stephen Obbo, the Director Lira Regional Referral Hospital explained that they are operating as a High Dependent Unit (HDU) instead of the ICU due to lack of specialized staff.
Judith Namirimu Polah, a Senior Principal Nursing Officer supervising the treatment centre explained that the facility is filled up due to the surge in the number of cases. She explains that the extra treatment centre will be located in two tents within a designated area at the hospital.
Geoffrey Ariko, the Lira District Bio-stat Officer, explains that malaria cases kept increasing throughout the year up to 33.7%. He, however, says that they recorded a sharp decline in Malaria cases between December 2020 and March 2021 following the implementation of IRS program in May 2020.
Francis Ayo, the chairperson of Ilera Cell Village, Agulu Division in Apac Municipality, says he received only 155 out of the 349 mosquito nets he was expecting for his area, a reason why he refused to take it.
Patrick Ocaya, the district operation supervisor in charge of mosquito nets distribution says a validation exercise conducted captured 363,632 people as beneficiaries, an excess of 25,454 people above the micro-planning figure.
At St Anne’s hospital, the overly flooded compound and houses is now being used as a fishing ground by communities whose gardens were submerged by water. Patients who used to visit both facilities have now turned to Alworoceng HC II for health services.
Pajule Sub-county LCIII Chairperson Brilliant Tito Okello says that the anomaly angered the locals since they had already been registered to benefit from the mosquito nets.
Dr Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, admitted that health workers in some treatment units had not been paid due to lack of funds.
Dr Edmond Acheka, the Assistant DHO in-charge of maternal and child health says that the tents can accommodate 60 beds. He adds that they are going to boost their capacity to admit more patients especially from within the local community.
Albina Awor, the Kwania District Chief Administrative Officer, says they decided to reduce staff to ensure social distancing and stop the disease from spreading among staff.
Dr Mathew Emer, the Apac District Health Officer says locking the area that consists of over 5,000 residents in the nine villages will help the medical team trace over 100 contacts to the six confirmed cases.
During her to the District, the Minister of Health Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said that the designated area must be fenced to stop contact between community members and the truck drivers.
