Africa-Press – Uganda. The rising Covid-19 infections in the country and the resultant death toll have forced many Ugandans to wear masks and adhere to other guidelines, a survey shows.
Yesterday, Daily Monitor visited several places around Kampala City and observed that a number of people, including traders, pedestrians and passengers, were wearing facemasks.
Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Ministry of Health spokesperson, told Daily Monitor that there has certainly been an improvement in adherence to the various SOPs.
“This is (partly) attributed to the intensified enforcement by the multi-sectoral taskforce and the security agencies,” he said.
Some of the multi-sectoral taskforces and security agencies station in different parts of the city to enforce SOPs. When they, for instance, find someone not wearing a mask, the person is cautioned and urged to buy a mask immediately or even arrested. Even ordinary citizens are playing the role of being their fellow brother’s keeper.
For example, it is very common nowadays for either a conductor or motorcyclist to ask a passenger questions like, “Where is your mask?” or “Why are you not putting on one?”
Mr Peter Kyobe, a motorcyclist, told Daily Monitor that he personally ensures that all his passengers wear masks.“I never let any passenger sit on my motorcycle without wearing a mask. I can’t allow that. I don’t want to leave any room for risks,” Mr Kyobe said.
He added: “Besides, there is police. Sometimes, when neither the motorcyclist nor passenger is wearing a mask, they bother us. They will stop and ask many questions or temporarily take hold of the motorcycle, which is time consuming. ”
Other people Daily Monitor talked to said they are adhering to wearing masks because of the increased number of deaths continuously reported in the country, the cost of treatment in hospitals and lack of enough beds for Covid-19 patients, among other reasons.
Last year, a section of Ugandans were adamant about wearing masks with some claiming that the virus was not real.
Trend
In a space of two days (Sunday-Monday), coronavirus killed 74 people. This count doesn’t include people dying from homes. A total of 25 people died on Sunday and the following day (Monday), the death toll nearly doubled (49).
