NWOYA – Telecommunication company, Huawei have donated assorted Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to Nwoya district as it struggles to overcome the fight against the contagious Covid19.
Some of the items donated include; 600 litres of hand sanitizers, 600 litres of liquid soap, 50 boxes of surgical face masks, 50 boxes of disposable gloves, 300 pieces of face shields and 30 temperature guns.
Currently, the prevalence rate of Covid-19 in the district is at 80% with Anaka and Alero trading centers listed as the most contagious and affected areas.
Speaking during the handover of the assorted PPEs at the district headquarters over the weekend, Judith Acan Peace, the Nwoya district Woman MP who lobbied for the items and Richard Todwong, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General said, she has observed that, most times , it’s the Community Health Workers especially Village Health Teams (VHTs) and Local Councilors (LCs) who don’t have the required PPEs for their protection.
Acan blamed the surging numbers of positive cases on truck drivers, reluctance by the community members to adhere to the stipulated Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and the fact that many people whose relatives are diagnosed with the disease tend to go and hide in the villages which has also led to the surge in positive cases in the district.
Richard Todwong said the donations were timely especially at the time when the President identified it as one of the 9 districts that has registered an increase in Covid-19 cases.
Todwong also tasked the district and local leaders to sensitize the public on the dangers of Covid-19 but also rally them to get vaccinated against the contagion.
According to Todwong, the increasing cases of infections are due to the exposure of the community members to travelers destined for either DRC or South Sudan.
Todwong also noted that the district has numerous commercial farmers who often transport workers from the various parts of the country and could either be positive or exposed to the virus, a factor which has led to the surge in positive Covid-19 cases.
“You know, Nwoya district is home to several large commercial farms which recruit people from very many parts of the country and the world generally and their exposure to Covid-19 could be among the major drivers to the increase in the positive cases.”
“Truck drivers who are destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan are very reckless with their lifestyles. They at most times interacting with the community members especially those in the major trading centres along the Karuma- Pakwach highway, another factor that is seemingly leading to the surge in positive cases, “Todwong noted.
Janet Oola, the Nwoya District Health Officer (DHO) says that, they were already struggling to reach out to the community due to limited PPEs, especially for the health workers.
Oola further says that, the priority will now be the community-based health assistants, the VHTs and Local Council Chairpersons because they interact the most with the community members.
“We were already struggling to access the people in the community because of lack of the PPEs for the health workers and the VHTs. At some point early this year, they complained thinking they were being neglected but it’s because we didn’t have the PPEs. Now that we have received these PPEs, we will first prioritize the VHTs, LCs and also our frontline workers,” said Oola.
Last week, Nwoya district had 55 cases under home based care with 5 deaths since the contagion was confirmed in the country in March last year.
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