There was a sombre mood at the burial of Eunice Chimatala, the first Ugandan resident believed to have died of Coronavirus disease.
The victim, a 34-year-old mother who died at Joy Hospice Centre in Mbale on Wednesday was laid to rest today at Sisongfwa village in Namisindwa district.
Most of the locals were barred from accessing the burial ground as the Health Ministry’s burial team from Mbale Regional Referral Hospital took charge of the ceremony. Police were deployed to block access for all unauthorised personnel.
The burial team, all dressed in protective gear, arrived in the area early in the morning and immediately embarked on the burial, witnessed by a small number of people standing a distance from the grave.
Those who were allowed near the grave included her children, husband and a few members of the Mbale district surveillance team.
Namisindwa Resident District Commissioner Kigai Kimoto said that they deployed police at the burial ground to ensure that Standard Operating Procedures were followed by members of the community to prevent further infections.
Richard Ssituma, the Gombolola Internal Security Officer-GISO of Namabya sub-county told Mega Fm that deceased’s neighbours have deserted their homes in panic.
Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the Primary Health Care Minister, says the results from the samples taken from the deceased show that she was positive for Covid-19.
On Thursday morning, Isaac Wepondi, the Acting Medical Officer Mbale Municipal Council, who is also the COVID-19 Quarantine Center manager, told Mega Fm that they were tracing for all the people who had left the health center.
According to the World Health Organisation-WHO, over 15,000 people have succumbed to Covid19 on the African continent. Uganda was one of three African countries that were yet to record any death.
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