Mulago hospital executive director Dr Byarugaba Baterena has disowned remarks attributed to him

Mulago hospital executive director Dr Byarugaba Baterena has disowned remarks attributed to him in the Daily Monitor, in which, he reportedly called for the total lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions.

In the article, Byarugaba reportedly said Uganda’s COVID-19 strain is as mild as flu and patients need not be admitted in hospitals as they can be effectively treated home. Uganda currently has a total of 1,051 confirmed coronavirus cases with 1,014 total recoveries and no deaths. 

“I told Ugandans right from the beginning that the type of coronavirus we expect in Uganda is the mild one. It can be treated at health centre II, III, IV or the district hospital,” Byarugaba is quoted as saying.

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Adding: “Some cases can be treated at home and do not need referral unless the patient has other underlying sickness such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension.” 

The alleged claim by Byarugaba has attracted criticism from a number of scientists, who said that the comments showed a lack of understanding of the disease and the importance of the lockdown in forestalling the spread.

Byarugaba, however, says that he and his colleague, Dr Fred Nakwagala, the head of COVID-19 case management at Mulago hospital were quoted out of context. Nakwagala, himself was quoted as saying that lockdowns are only effective for a short period of time and that when prolonged, their aftereffects can have adverse negative implications for the country.

Byarugaba’s alleged comments come at the time when the World Health Organisation has warned that the countries have become lax and weren’t doing enough towards containing coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, several countries that had eased the restrictions such USA, Spain, Australia, Greece, Israel, England, South Africa, Botswana have this week reimposed even stricter lockdowns following a spike in cases. 

In a clarification statement, Byarugaba says that their recommendation to lift the lockdown was made on the assumption that Ugandans could adhere to preventive measures.

“We commented that it would be good for the government to ease the lockdown only if people can take the responsibility to observe the guidelines on prevention such as wearing masks, observing social distancing, avoiding the temptation of touching the face, nose and mouth, washing hands and using hand sanitizers,” Byarugaba said.

Ministry of Health officials have persistently warned of a spike in community infections as Ugandans were no longer adhering to preventive guidelines such as social distancing and wearing of face masks.

The fear for contracting coronavirus has also dropped from as high as 70 per cent in March this year to about 30-40 per cent in June according to a survey by the ministry of Health. The drop was attributed to the economic hardships brought about by the lockdown, high recovery rate of patients and the zero COVID-19 mortality rate. Uganda has not lost a single patient to coronavirus. 

Byarugaba asked Ugandans to disregard the remarks attributed to him and take precaution to guard themselves against the infection and its effects. Mulago hospital is one of the 16 treatment facilities in the country where COVID-19 is being treated in the country. To date, the facility has handled over 200 of the 1,014 recovered patients in the country. 

The Mulago boss is the second health official who has come under fire in relation to COVID-19 recently. Health minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng faced criticism over the weekend after pictures showed her mingling with the crowd in Lira without observing social distancing or wearing a face mask. Aceng has since said she regrets the incident.