Uganda: UNHCR COVID-19 Response Bi-Monthly Update, 22 June 2020
- Pays
- Ouganda
- + 4
- Sources
- UNHCR
- Date de publication
- Origine
- Voir l'original
1,424,373 Refugees and asylum seekers as of May 2020
49 Refugees tested positive to date
5 Refugees recovered to date
304 Refugees and asylum seekers in quarantine
Operational context
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Since Uganda confirmed its first COVID-19 case on 21 March 2020, the number of positive cases increased to 797 as of 22 June 2020, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH). Among them are 49 refugees who tested positive while quarantined in Adjumani’s Nyumanzi reception centre (41 South Sudanese), Yumbe’s Lokopio Technical Institute (5 South Sudanese), Rakai’s Mutukula quarantine facility (2 Burundians) and Amuru’s Elegu collection point (1 Eritrean). Five refugees have recovered to date, while 44 remain under treatment, including 31 in Kampala’s Mulago National Specialized Hospital, 11 in Arua Regional Referral Hospital, 1 in Hoima Regional Referral Hospital and 1 in Entebbe Grade B Hospital. Across Uganda, a total of 699 people has recovered from COVID-19 to date.
No deaths have been registered so far. Following a new presidential directive dated 19 May 2020, Uganda’s total confirmed case count does no longer include the number of foreign truck drivers who tested positive for COVID-19 and were handed over to their country of origin – which stood at 932 as of 22 June 2020. -
In a televised address on 13 June, Minister of Health Jane Ruth Acheng warned the public that the government may enforce another lockdown if Ugandans fail to adhere to health guidelines in the fight against COVID-19. The Minister stressed that Government prepared 3,200 isolation beds and 378 intensive care units (ICU) beds at national referral hospitals, regional referral hospitals, general hospitals and health centres IV, highlighting that each of the fourteen and two national referral hospitals have 30 isolation beds and 10 ICU beds. Public transport (buses, mini-buses and taxis) resumed at half capacity on 4 June, with the exception of 40 border districts, where it remains suspended until further notice. The reopening of schools, postponed until 1 July, is likely to be further delayed. The borders and the airport remain closed, with curfew still in place from 19hr00 to 6hr30. Wearing a mask in public is mandatory.
Movement restrictions continue in all border districts.
Highlights
Protection
- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) saw a positive development in its advocacy with the Government of Uganda regarding the protection of thousands of asylum seekers reportedly stranded in no-man’s land between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), west of Zombo district. During a special Cabinet meeting on 10 June, President Yoweri Museveni briefed about the fighting between Lendu and Alur communities in eastern DRC, and directed Minister for Relief, Preparedness Disaster and Refugees and Minister of Health, among others, to coordinate with UNHCR and other stakeholders to assess the situation in Zombo, organize COVID-19 testing for this group of asylum seekers and explore ways to support them. Minister for Northern Uganda has been directed to liaise with the Alur King and uses his good offices and structures to bring the inter-community conflict to a peaceful resolution. A pre-assessment mission organized by UNHCR on 15 June along with the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), WFP, WHO, UNDSS, the UN Area Coordinator and Water Mission found that significant investments are required to increase the capacity of Zombo district to quarantine and assist this group of new refugee arrivals. A more thorough inter-agency assessment is scheduled to take place in the week of 22 June.