A Kenyan truck driver who was admitted in isolation at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor in the Northern Uganda district of Gulu with Covid19 like symptoms has died.
The 59-year -old trucker was admitted to the hospital on Saturday after being referred from Elelgu Border Post in Amuru district.
A statement issued by the Hospital management on Monday evening indicates that the Kenyan National was taken to the facility unconscious with symptoms similar to those of COVID -19.
“The deceased was isolated because besides the other underlying conditions, he met the Health Ministry’s criteria for COVID -19 suspects,” the statement said.
The truck driver died alongside an 18-year-old woman who was also admitted to the isolation ward on Saturday after she was referred from Abee Hospital in Oyam district; she was diagnosed with severe pneumonia.
Dr. Paska Apiyo, the Head of Case Management under the Gulu District COVID -19 Taskforce, said that they dispatched samples of the duo to Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe on Sunday and were still waiting for the results.
Apiyo said the bodies of the duo are still lying in their hospital mortuary pending the release of test results from Uganda Virus Institute before a decision is made.
Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and St. Mary's Hosptial Lacor are designated isolation centers for Covid19 patients as designated by the Gulu District COVID -19 Taskforce.
Uganda has so far recorded 79 cases of COVID -19. Majority of the recent cases involve Kenyan and Tanzanian truck drivers.
Contributed by Ahmed Wetaka, Kampala-Uganda
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