Suspects who Escaped from COVID-19 Isolation Centre in Iganga Advised to Self-Isolate

The Iganga District COVID-19 Taskforce has advised all persons who escaped from an Isolation centre at Busoga University to self-isolate from their homes for at least 14 days as a prerequisite for containing the virus.  

The isolation centre which was set up at Busoga university premises was meant to accommodate 80 suspected patients. Days after its establishment, a number of people who met the COVID-19 definition were sent there for supposed isolation, pending testing by the Uganda Virus Research Institute.  

But reports indicate that four of these escaped from the facility allegedly due to lack of food, security and other essential services. World Health Organisation guidelines indicate that persons under isolation should be immediately provided with a mask and advised to keep a distance of at least one meter between them and other suspected patients. 

Iganga District Health Officer Dr David Muwanguzi says that police officers and health workers who were deployed to manage the centre had earlier on abandoned their duties due to lack of Personal Protective Equipment, leaving the suspects unattended to. 

Muwanguzi, however, says that all suspects at the centre at the time had tested negative, health teams had been dispatched to monitor them from their homes.  

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Muwanguzi adds that the taskforce has engaged local leaders within the suspects hosting communities to ensure that their human rights are respected as they adhere to the set self-isolation guidelines. 

Meanwhile, Eva Kwesiga, the Iganga Resident District Commissioner says that items have been sourced to refurbish the isolation centre.  

“We have lobbied food items and some personal protective equipment, which I believe will help us to make the isolation centre fully functional and ready to accommodate suspected patients and their possible contacts within the communities,” she says.