Health Workers in Kaberamaido district have abandoned the comfort of their offices to attend to patients open spaces under the trees. The initiative comes as the country puts up different measures to prevent the spread of Corona Virus. on Monday night, the Health Minister confirmed eight other COVID- 19 cases, bringing to nine, the number of confirmed cases in Uganda.
Since then, a number of people including medical workers have stepped up measures to control the possible spread of the deadly virus. In Kaberamaido Hospital, clinicians now sit under the trees to attend to patients. The sitting posture allows in fresh air that reduces the chances of infection especially as majority of patients present with flu, cough or sneezing.
Sr. Margaret Anyinge, the Senior Nursing Officer at Kaberamaido Hospital, says they opted for open spaces because of congestion in the Out Patients Department-OPD. Sr. Anyinge explains that more people are flocking the hospital in family units of up to six patients.
She notes that management devised the open space approach for patients to reduce the risk of infecting staff and other patients.
Despite this, URN has learnt that Kaberamaido Hospital has been running without hand washing facilities even after the Presidential Directives on Hand washing and other preventive measures. When asked, Sr. Anyinge said there was some bureaucracy that delayed the procurement of hand washing facilities in the hospital. “We finally got the hand washing facilities this morning and as we speak, all units have sanitizers in addition to the hand washing points available in the hospital”, she said on phone.
The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kaberamaido, Jackson Luke Jackson Abwangamoi, was surprised to hear that the hospital administration wasn’t adhering to the new directives of providing hand washing facilities at the hospital. “The hospital should be on the lead in this fight. How can they fail to improvise hand washing facilities for clients? We shall follow this up with the administration”, he said.
The Kaberamaido District Health and Education Secretary, Esther Anyiko says the issue was discussed in a meeting with the in- charge of the hospital and the District Health Officer, Daniel James Odongo but was ignored. “We sat in a meeting and asked the responsible offices to liaise with each other to put up preventive measures as per the Presidential Directives. But to my dismay, not a single hand washing facility has been availed in the hospital”, the councilor said on Monday.
Edwards George Akonopesa, the Kaberamaido Resident District Commissioner, said much as some health workers have initiated other preventive measures, the institutional set up in the district on COVID- 19 is slow. He explained that individual and family response against Corona Virus is faster compared to some institutions in the district.
The News Editor ,Reporter at Kagadi Kibaale community Radio
