The ministry of health has given a green light to Makerere University to provide testing for COVID-19.
This makes it the second institution in the country to officially test for COVID-19 besides the Uganda Virus Research Institute- UVRI to carry out the tests.
The Vice-Chancellor, Makerere University, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe in a tweet appreciated his team for the approval.
The tweet reads;
“I congratulate Prof. Moses Joloba and his team upon getting Government approval to start testing for Coronavirus. This is testimony to the great capacity that has been built at our science laboratories. Now we can contribute even better to fighting COVID-19. Congratulations!”
Recently, the University Hospital announced having secured 40,000 Covid-19 testing kits through the University’s research collaboration with Case Western Reserve University in the United States.
This comes at a time when the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Uganda now stands at 83 after two more people tested positive to the virus.
The two new cases are both Kenyan truck drivers. This brings the number of truck drivers who have tested positive to 24.
A 55-year-old passed through the Busia border and a 27-year-old entered through Malaba.
These are part of 1,579 samples that were picked from truck drivers as part of the mandatory testing drive and tested at the Uganda Virus Research Institute.
Also tested were 492 samples picked from the community through the ongoing community survey.
The East African Community bloc has resolved to restrict to one the number of people using the trucks and also restrict all truck drivers from having the usual stopovers at hotels, lodges, or eating joints.
It was done to limit the interaction of these drivers from the community hence slowing infection rates.
