Kitgum Resident District Commissioner William Komakech told journalists at a press briefing Friday that the temporary closure of the clinic is to pave way for proper disinfection of the entire health facility. He adds that all health workers at the facility have been subjected to COVID-19 testing while all their contacts are currently being traced.
Komakech asked all private health caregivers in the Municipality to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures and ensure that all patients undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing to avoid the spread of the contagion.
He also proposed that bigger health facilities in the district should now consider starting mandatory testing of patients before admission to ensure the safety of health workers who are currently falling victims to the disease. At least three health workers at Kitgum General Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 this week after coming in contact with a patient.
The death of a patient at the private clinic brings to two the number of patients who have succumbed to COVID-19 in the Municipality in just one week pushing the cumulative death the district registered to 11 since March last year.
Health officials have warned that the district is on a slow path to losing the battle to COVID-19 fight with the current spike in weekly cases of COVID-19within the sub-counties and divisions in the municipality being registered.
Dr Henry Okello Otto, the Acting District Health Officer on Thursday during a weekly task force meeting disclosed that a total of 23 new cases of COVID-19 had been registered in only one week out of 161 clients tested. A total of 73 patients are currently under home-based care according to Dr Okello.
He raised concern over the laxity in adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs among the populace in the district as contributing factors to the rising community covid-19 infections.
Dr Okello also noted that reluctance by community members to voluntarily test for COVID-19 has made it hard to trace the trend of spread of the disease and urged locals to embrace voluntary testing. Cumulative positive COVID-19 cases in the district have hit 489 out of 4,114 people tested since March last year.
At least 8,300 people have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to reports from the district COVID-19 task force.