The Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine has warned that with the rising COVID-19 cases, some areas need to be urgently locked down if the second wave of the virus is to be contained.
“It cannot be ruled out because for us life comes first, if the public has refused to take the measures in place, I think a lockdown is a way to go, some areas must be locked down unless people really get to observing SOPs otherwise we shall get overwhelmed,” Dr. Atwine said.
Speaking on the Morning at NTV show, Dr. Atwine says they are soon going to engage with the President after thorough consultations with the experts for guidance.
According to Atwine, the second wave is worsening adding that the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) are already full with public hospitals soon running out of space to accommodate patients.
“We are going to get to a level where hospitals must be left to critical patients, right now Entebbe is full, Mulago by yesterday we had 84 and by last evening the number should have increased to 100,” she said.
Atwine says the situation is worrying since the majority of the new infections are from young people.
“Two days ago, we got 187 cases in one day so I can authoritatively tell you that the second wave of COVID-19 is here. Our ICUs and HDUs are full, we lost six young people in one week so be alert,” Dr Atwine concluded.
