A suspected coronavirus patient has escaped from quarantine at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital (GRRH) in Gulu district causing panic.
Charles Okello, a resident of Lanenober Parish in Lakwana Sub County was relocated from Omoro district coronavirus quarantine Centre in Opit Secondary School to GRRH on Monday after confessing to health workers that he had physical contact with his boss, a Kenyan businessman who has been tested positive for the deadly COVID-19 in Kenya.
His revelation led to isolation of 66 other people believed to have been in contact with him. They are all at isolation at Opit Secondary School for the mandatory 14 days quarantine.
Among them are three medical personnel at Lanenober Health Centre II where he had reported, 18 family members who were with the suspect, and 46 patients who were at the health facility when Okello visit the health facility.
Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, the Gulu district chairperson disclosed to the Acholi Regional Coronavirus Taskforce that Okello on Wednesday morning escaped Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.
He told the meeting held at Forth Division army barracks in Gulu that Okello vanished after he was asked to sit outside the quarantine room to give space for cleaners to tidy the room.
Three other people are still in quarantine at the same unit which was previously used as isolation ward during the Ebola pandemic in 2000.
Mapenduzi added that they have alerted security and residents of Lakwana who know Okello to ensure that he is apprehended immediately.
Douglas Peter Okello, the Omoro district chairperson the escape of Okello puts the live of many at risk.
Forth Division Army Commander Brigadier Bonny Bamwiseki who chaired the meeting said that security teams are working closely with the districts taskforce to ensure the suspect is apprehended.
Yoweri Idiba, the Acting District Health Officer for Gulu said that samples from Okello was on Tuesday taken for test at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).
Uganda has 44 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday this week .
