Authorities in Budaka District are reportedly stuck with a patient suspected of having Coronavirus after exhibiting advanced symptoms for days.
The patient is a lady who has been working as a maid in Nairobi but travelled back into the country a fortnight ago and has been living freely in Iyama Sub county, Budaka district with her family members until the situation started deteriorating.
She was rushed to Budaka Health Center 4 according the Sam Mulomi, the District Chairperson.
He narrates that on arrival to Budaka health center 4 with advanced coronavirus signs, she was sent to the isolation center in Nansanga health center 3 from where communication was sent to the Mbale regional regional referral hospital which kept on “telling us stories”.
“They kept on changing from we are coming then we don’t have protective gear, then we shall come tomorrow and our team is on the way but all was in vain,” recounts Mr Mulomi.
Fearing for what was bound to happen to their community, residents started to hang up to kill the patient lest she infects them all which led to panic among the authorities.
“In the meantime, the Nansanga community were getting agitated and grouping up to kill the the patient,” he says.
On the advice of some authority in Kampala, the patient was taken to Mbale referral Hospital aboard the district pick up .
“On arrival at Mbale, we were bounced on grounds that the Regional hospital lacked protective gear to handle any Corona patient,” one health stuff that had escorted the patient from Budaka intimated to us in a telephone interview on Monday morning.
Left with no option, the patient was reportedly driven back to Budaka health center 4 where an isolation room was organised since they could not take her back to Nansanga for fear of her life.
“I can openly confirm that Mbale region hospital is far from ready to face or receive or tackle coronavirus. This is real disaster if a regional referral hospital can turn back a patient to a health center 3. I even wonder what will happen should the country be faced with a full blown outbreak,” Mulomi wondered.
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