Dr. Moriku says both the room where the Chinese national checked in and hotel should be disinfected for the next fourteen days until the suspects are cleared by the health professionals.
The Primary Health Care Minister, Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu has ordered for full disinfection of the room and entire White Castle Hotel Arua where that the Chinese national self-quarantined himself on Wednesday night.
She issued the directive during her visit to the hotel on Friday afternoon to calm down distressed staff.
Dr. Moriku rushed to the hotel after it emerged that a Chinese national attached to China Chongqing International Construction Corporation-CICO checked into the hotel to self-quarantine shortly returning from leave in China.
The Chinese national was forced to self-quarantine with prompting from his colleagues in the camp run by the construction firm.
The hotel staff learnt that their guest was in self-quarantine when they saw his colleagues bringing him food and protective gear.
The shocked staff immediately notified Arua district authorities, who dispatched a team to examine the Chinese national.
Although the Chinese national didn’t test positive for COVID19, he was relocated from the hotel and taken to unknown location to complete the 14 days of quarantine under closer supervision.
The room where the Chinese national self-quarantined has since remained closed to staff and guests.
Now, Dr. Moriku says both the room where the Chinese national checked in and hotel should be disinfected for the next fourteen days until the suspects are cleared by the health professionals.
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Gideon Wanda, the General Manager White Castle Hotel, says although the incident triggered panic among staff, the District Health Officer assured them that all was fine after checking the documents of the suspect and testing his temperature.
He says they has increased hand washing points at the hotel and isolated the room that was occupied by the Chinese national.
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COVID-19, which broke out in China in December has so spread to over 100 countries affecting 120,000 and claiming more than 4,000 others.
Uganda’s neighbor on the eastern side of the border, Kenya has since confirmed its first COVID-19.
The public has been urged to be vigilant by washing their hands with alcohol based sanitisers and report any suspicious cases to health professionals.
Story by Candia Stephen