Namutumba District headquarters closed till further notice after seven staff test positive for COVID-19.
Namutumba district headquarters offices have been closed until further notice after seven staff members test positive for the coronavirus.
The shocking news comes only days after the district LC 5 chairman Hajji Saleh Kumbunga reportedly succumbed to the same virus.
Following his death, thorough tests were last week conducted on all district employees and results of seven employees returned positive.
Speaking about the occurrence, Benard Okello the district deputy chief administrative officer said that they decided to close the offices to allow health authorities to properly monitor the health status of all the workers.
As it is a mandate to have all COVID-19 contacts quarantined for at least two weeks, Okello said that all workers have been requested to stay at home as they receive treatment.
Okello who urged members of the general public to take the virus seriously said that the disease is serious but many of them think it’s politics.
“They have been strongly advised not to interact with family members or the public as much as possible. This disease is real but some people think it’s politics,” Okello said.
According to the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Namutumba, Sempala Kigozi, the public should desist from politicising everything and take the virus seriously.
Sempala Kigozi who is also the chairperson COVID-19 district task force revealed that they recently conducted tests on a total of 234 people and 65 of these tested positive.
However, he noted that some people in his district even after all these cases have continuously displayed laxity towards the virus.
He said they are reluctant to put into proper play the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.
“We have continuously told them to undergo isolation but they instead tell us that its not COVID-19 but they are instead being bewitched,” Mr Kigozi said.
Meanwhile, this comes at a time when the COVID-19 cases continue to surge around the country. The Ministry of Health Friday announced 710 new cases from tests done on 17 December 2020.
This now pushes the total number of cases in the country to 30,071. Of these, 10, 251 people have so far recovered from the virus while 230 have now succumbed to it after the Ministry recorded two new deaths.
