Africa-Press – Uganda. Masaka City Ebola task force has suspended the operations of a private clinic where the first victim of Ebola was admitted last month.
The decision to temporarily close St Joseph Clinic in Kimaanya A Village was taken during a task force meeting convened on Friday at Masaka City mayor’s chambers.
The 23-year-old female Ebola victim who died last Wednesday, was first admitted at St Joseph Clinic before being referred to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital and later evacuated to Entebbe Ebola Treatment Centre where she succumbed to the deadly virus.
According to Mr Ronald Katende, the Masaka Resident City Commissioner, the task force meeting also agreed to come up with a budget to facilitate a robust sensitisation campaign to fight the spread of the virus in the city.
“Staff at the clinic have been evacuated to Kampala for isolation and we agreed that the facility be closed temporarily to allow disinfection of the area and also address fears of residents who were concerned about the continued operation of the health unit,” he said.
Mr Katende said the contact-tracing exercise is still on going to get all people that could have interacted with the deceased and the health workers that nursed her before testing positive.
“At least 20 people have so far been evacuated to Kampala, but the search is still on since this is the easiest way we can reduce the spread of the virus in the community,” he added.
Masaka Regional Referral Hospital Director, Dr James Elima, asked residents to be vigilant by reporting any individual with Ebola-like symptoms so that they can be removed from the community in time.
“I urge the community health department to intensify surveillance for more contacts to ease the work of fighting this outbreak,” he said.
The deceased, who was a resident of Kabowa in Kampala, went to Kimaanya A, Masaka City suburb at the request of her parents after her health deteriorated and she was later found with symptoms of Ebola.
Masaka City has since registered two Ebola cases and one death while Kampala has 19 cases and two deaths.
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