Covid-19 positivity rate remains high a few days to end of the 42days lockdown

With less than two weeks to the end of the 42days lockdown, Uganda's Covid-19 positivity rate remains high averaging at 10%.

Even though the country is getting big numbers of recoveries, the high positivity rate means the pandemic still poses a great threat.

On July 14,  987 patients have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 65,083 people, the health ministry has announced.

“Results of COVID-19 tests done on July 14, 2021, confirm 434 new cases. The cumulative confirmed cases are 89,514,” the ministry said Friday, adding that 849 cases are still admitted in various health facilities countrywide.

Some 37 people died of the pandemic, bringing the total number of deaths ever since the pandemic broke out in Uganda in March 2020, to 2,286 persons.

 

The number of persons who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 has is at 1,087,152 people so far.

According to President Yoweri Museveni, the ultimate solution to COVID-19 is vaccination and Uganda needs to vaccinate at least 4.8 million people before COVID-19 measures can be relaxed.  

The rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths has been attributed to the new Delta and other variants, which emanated largely from the UK, India, South Africa and Nigeria.

The rising number of cases and deaths prompted President Museveni to announce a 42-day lockdown on June 18, as a way of curbing the spread of the virus.  

If the lockdown is lifted in a few days to come, the country will again face a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The strict preventive measures need to last a little longer to push the positivity rate to less than 5%.