The Minister of Health, Jane Aceng has on Wednesday flagged off teams to conduct the second Rapid Assessment Survey to determine the extent of community transmission of COVID-19 and possible risk groups.
The main goal of the survey is to determine the status of COVID-19 epidemic in targeted districts of Uganda that seem to have the highest risk.
The survey will involve 18 teams that will collect information and samples from selected population groups and communities.
According to the minister, a total of 10,000 Ugandans will be interviewed, samples withdrawn and tested for COVID-19.
The population groups to be assessed include border crossing points and communities (URA staff working at Points of Entry, migratory population, traders),Law enforcement officers,Health workers, boda boda and bicycle riders, Sex workers, slum areas, Households in high risk exposure areas of border districts, Children under 15 years old, The Elderly (above 60 years old), Factory workers as well as Fishing communities.
The targeted districts for the survey as guided by the number of infected individuals are: ,Masaka,Kyotera, Adjumani, Rakai, Isingiro, Gulu, Buikwe, Ntungamo, Amuru, Kakumiro and Kasese.
The second survey comes less than two months after the initial assessment which found that there were no severe cases of community transmissions in the country. Findings from the Rapid Community Assessment found that the possibility of community transmissions in the country stood at 0.003 per cent.
A total of over 23,000 people were tested for COVID-19 as part of the assessment which targeted people in 50 border districts. High-risk groups such as taxi drivers, LDUs, security personnel, religious leaders, health workers and people in fishing communities were tested.
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