Government has confirmed that Uganda has registered the Indian Covid-19 variant B.1.617.
Col Dr Henry Kyobe, the Covid-19 incident commander, yesterday said the country has now registered five Covid-19 variants, namely Ugandan, Nigerian, South Africa, and UK strains.
Dr Kyobe said the UK, South Africa, and India variants are more transmissible and mainly affect a younger age group in cases where they have been recorded.
However, he added that the variant causing more havoc in India is the UK variant.
Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health, said there is a need to scale up surveillance, contact tracing and testing at the district level so as to detect cases early.
She urged the public to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to avoid the scenario happening in countries like India.
According to the Ministry of Health, some countries have accused Uganda of being a transit route for travelers, which exposes them to more variants.
Asked what the government is doing to prevent more variants in the country, Dr Aceng said the national taskforce will take a decision on what needs to be done regarding some of the countries like India.
Rao Mohan, the chairman of the Indian Association of Uganda, has called on all those returning from India to Uganda to self-isolate for a week and follow SOPs to protect themselves and the community.
