Medical workers at Mukono General Hospital are in panic following the loss of their colleague to COVID-19.

William Mule, who has been the coordinator of laboratory technicians in Mukono district, breathed his last on Wednesday morning while being transferred from Kiruddu hospital to Mulago National Referral Hospital for further management.

His death has triggered fear among health workers who are now scared of attending to patients without Personal Protective Equipment-PPE.

Harriet Nabawonga, a Laboratory Technician, who received and escorted the deceased from Mukono hospital, says it has been a bad experience for them after failing to transport one of their own to receive better management in time.  

According to Nabawonga, they spent over four hours looking for an ambulance to take the deceased to Kiruddu and five more hours to move him to Mulago National Referral Hospital despite his deplorable state.

On average at least eight people test for Covid-19 at Mukono general hospital each day. While in the entire district 80 people are tested at the designated screening centers.

Nabawonga says at least two people test positive for COVID-19. Mukono has so far registered 172 COVID-19 positive cases.  

Ritah Nakandi, the Infection Prevention and Control-IPC Focal Person at Mukono General Hospital, says they have severally appealed to the authorities to provide them with sufficient PPE and other related requirements in vain.  

The hospital has also relaxed on the implementation of the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs. Our reporter visited the Hospital on Wednesday afternoon and didn’t find soap for washing hands at the entrance.

The gatekeepers didn’t have temperature guns. None of the patients had a face mask or observed the required social distancing. Suspected Covid-19 cases share the same waiting space with other patients.

James Nkata, the Mukono Chief Administrative Officer appealed to medical workers in the district to remain calm and comply with the SOPs to avoid infection.