Masaka: Covid-19 patient who filmed 'dire' situation of the hospital to be investigated

The security team in Masaka is currently investigating the motive of the Covid-19 patient who filmed and decried the 'dire' situation at Masaka hospital Covid-19 treatment ward.

According to the Masaka District Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Herman Ssentongo, the patient might have had a hidden agenda in recording the video that has since gone viral on social media.

The patient under investigation is Mary Aliona, a former nurse who was admitted at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital as an asymptomatic Covid-19 patient.

According to the Ministry of Health, Aliona was admitted at the hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 at the Mutukula border point while trying to cross to Tanzania.

Masaka RDC says Covid-19 patient who filmed 'dire' situation of the hospital is under investigation

RDC Ssentongo while addressing journalists on Thursday said they want establish how Aliona ended up in a district that was under lockdown at the time.

He said, "We have intelligence that she (Mary Aliona) was trying to get out of the country to go to Tanzania through Mutukula, so as to proceed with her journey to South Korea but we all know Mutukula and Kyotera are under lockdown being near the border,"

"We have started to investigate how she got there."

Aliona, while filming the video, pointed out a number of issues, including the hygiene of the ward and how doctors only visit the patients only once a day, something that Ssentongo said was false.

The Health Ministry, in its response to the video last week said that the Aliona had exaggerated the situation because the ward in question was a temporary improvisation as the hospital is widening its bed capacity and all patients will be transferred to a better facility once the renovations are done.

The Masaka hospital is currently treating at least 30 coronavirus patients who according to the ministry, are mainly stable with several of them asymptomatic.