Uganda’s Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, has said the country is still faced with the coronavirus pandemic despite a declaration by World Health Organisation (WHO) announcing the end of the emergency.
“Ugandans; especially the vulnerable, must therefore continue to practice the precautionary measures recommended,” she said in a statement on X.
Aceng’s statement comes shortly after the declaration that the First Lady, Maama Janet Museveni, had tested positive for COVID-19 around the Christmas period and her subsequent remission after self-isolation.
President Museveni directed Aceng to provide an explanation for high transmissibility of COVID-19 through the hands.
“Since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan in China; it was known that surfaces such as tables, door handles, doors, chairs etc contributed heavily to transmission of COVID-19 via touching. The COVID-19 virus, unlike many others stays alive for over 3 days on these surfaces.Thus, it has been documented that transmission via touching of infected surfaces and thereafter, one’s soft body parts such as eyes, nose, mouth appears to be a more common route of infection than the airborne route,” Aceng stated.
“This is the very reason we instituted aggressive hand washing campaign at the peak of the pandemic, discouraged touching of soft body parts, and even restricted hand shaking. Additionally, we recommended disinfection of surfaces of tables, door handles, chairs and doors.”
She said although airborne transmission has been demonstrated; it occurs within very close distance of under two meters, without a mask.
Under the current circumstances where State House has effectively implemented social distancing and masking, the highest risk for transmission will be from touching infected objects and surfaces.
According to Aceng, the emerging variants of COVID-19 from the stealth variant (stealth because it seems to bypass oral and nasal routes direct to lungs) seems not to stay long in the nose or throat; explaining why some test results may return negative even when someone is infected and has symptoms.
“Therefore, the method of sample collection, the depth of swabbing and the time of the infection process, determine the positivity rates. In conclusion, COVID-19 is still with us despite the declaration of the end of the emergency by WHO,” she concluded.
