Mbale district has lost at least 33 people who have succumbed to COVID-19 in less than a fortnight. Health officials indicate that the patients died between June 18th and 29th, 2021.
32 victims died in the Intensive Care Unit of Mbale Regional Referral Hospital while one was under home-based care. The district has also registered over 90 COVID-19 positive cases within the same period.
Nineteen of these are in the COVID-19 Treatment Unit with 10 of them on life support. According to Edward Nyongesa, the Mbale District/City Surveillance officer, the increasing death at the hospital is attributed to inadequate oxygen supply.
He says on average, at least four people succumb to the virus at the hospital each day due to inadequate oxygen supply.
Although the Oxygen plant at the hospital is functional, Emmanuel Tugaineyo, the Director Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, says that it doesn’t produce sufficient oxygen.
They are currently depending on Oxygen supplies from the Ministry of Health.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Mbale Regional Referral Hospital has handled 671 COVID-19 patients. At least 500 patients have fully recovered from the virus. Tugaineyo says that the second wave of the pandemic has turned to be so lethal compared to the first phase.
