Uganda has recorded its second death attributed to Covid-19, three days since the country’s first Covid-19 death was recorded and four days since President Yoweri Museveni announced the easing of lockdown regulations.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health released via its official Twitter account details of the country’s second Covid-19 fatality, an 80-year-old from the capital city, Kampala.

The 80-year-old Ugandan suffered symptoms including a fever, cough, chest pain and difficulty breathing and died at Mengo Hospital on July 24.

Uganda’s first Covid-19 death was reported by the Ministry of Health on July 23, a 34-year-old from the Namisindwa District, roughly 245km east of Kampala.

The 34-year-old showed similar symptoms to those of the 80-year-old, but with “features of acute pneumonia”. 

World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Uganda Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam said after the country’s first Covid-19 death: “The community must follow public health preventive measures. Wear a mask always, wash hands frequently or use a hand sanitiser and maintain social distancing.”

Uganda’s commissioner of health services Richard Kabanda emphasised the risk of death associated with the coronavirus.

“This is critical and an eye-opener for the general public. Many people thought Uganda had no Covid or it was different from what the rest of the world is facing. But we have now seen that Covid is real, dangerous and kills,” he said.

In a survey conducted between July 6 and July 15 by Whitehead Communications, it found that, “the majority of respondents in Uganda, 78%, fear Covid-19 less in July than they did in March,” reported the Daily Monitor.

On July 21, Museveni announced a number of adjusted Covid-19 regulations as the country slowly eases out of a hard lockdown.

These included motorcycle taxi drivers being allowed to carry passengers and not only goods; schools and places of worship to remain closed; hairdressers and shopping arcades to open; and an adjusted national curfew from  9pm to 5.30am.

Uganda’s Ministry of Health has recorded 1 128 confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to its latest report on July 27.