Uganda Prisons Services has confirmed its first Coronavirus case after a suspect who has been in isolation tested positive.
“He was in our isolation centre at Kiyiti government prison in Namutumba district,” Uganda Prisons spokesperson, Frank Baine said.
The prisons spokesperson said that after tests, results released on Monday indicated that the suspect was positive and was rushed to the hospital.
“We handed him to Ministry of Health and admitted at Jinja hospital.”
Dr. Johnson Byabashaija, the Uganda Prisons Commissioner General recently told Nile Post that they already have in place a contingency plan to handle Coronavirus.
With about 62000 inmates all over the country, Byabashaija said Uganda’s prisons are congested by 300 percent and in simple terms, it means that space meant to be occupied by one person is currently occupied by three people.
“We had to designate isolation prisons. It was so coincidental and by the grace of God that we had just completed the Kitalya mini-max prison,” he said in an exclusive interview.
“In Busesa, Soroti, and Kayiti prisons there are also isolation centres. In Girgir, we collapsed the prison to become a collection point for new prisoners in the whole of the West Nile. We have been able to prevent new admissions from mixing with the old.”
He revealed that there are new prisons in Bushenyi(Sheema prisons) and Nwoya whereas in Kyenjojo, construction of new cells had just been completed and this all became isolation centres.
The total number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in Uganda now stands at 665 whereas 119 of these have fully recovered and discharged.
How Uganda Prisons avoided spread of Coronavirus among inmates
