The East African Community (EAC) countries are in discussions to
harmonize procedure of testing for coronavirus among truck drivers in the
region. This was revealed by the Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng revealed on
Thursday.
She said the proposal was made during a summit by heads of state but they have
since discussed it with truck owners and the ministers of trade. She said
discussions on the way forward will be finalized during a joint meeting scheduled
for Friday next week.
///Cue in: “countries are using ….
Cue out: …. With the tests”. //
She said countries are using different tests whereby some have already adopted
the rapid tests explaining that if they are to start joint testing Ugandan
experts will have to first go to the neighbouring countries to understand the
protocols that they use.
This she explains will help them develop confidence in the outcomes of each
other’s results.
As this comes up, there was controversy recently when a Kenyan truck driver tested
positive in Uganda and when tested again back home by the Kenya Medical
Research Institute, the results came out negative, leading to doubts in
Uganda’s testing mechanisms.
To date, a total of 88 Ugandan truck drivers have tested positive for viral
respiratory disease.
The total number of infections is now 145 cases after deducting the
foreign truck driver numbers that had increased the country's total cases to
274.
