What next for President Museveni after testing positive for Covid-19?
It remains to be seen if President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda will opt for staying in hospital or receiving home-based care from State House after he tested positive for Covid-19.
President Museveni made the revelation of his infection on Wednesday during a State of the Nation Address he attended hours after testing positive for the highly infectious virus at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds later in the afternoon. The event had hundreds of invited guests.
“This morning, I was feeling as if I had a cold. I took a rapid Coronavirus test which indicated negative. I did two more tests with deeper analysis. One of them turned out positive, the other was negative. So, I am a suspect of corona as I speak. That’s why I came in a separate car with Mama Janet Museveni,” The Daily Monitor quoted President Museveni.
President Museveni did not immediately follow the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines measures for persons who test positive for Covid-19.
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According to WHO, people who test positive for coronavirus can usually be cared for safely at home except for people who are aged 60 and older, are pregnant and age 35, have chronic medical conditions and have immunosuppressive conditions such as HIV/Aids and cancer. They are advised to go in to the hospital because they may not receive the care they need from their homes.
If a person is to receive care in the home, they should stay at least one meter away from the rest of the family, open windows to ventilate rooms, cough or sneeze into the bent elbow or disposable tissues, clean hands frequently with soap and running water or sanitizers; and finally, get vaccinated when it is their turn.
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Homecare patients are advised to rest, stay hydrated and eat healthy foods. They should also be isolated in a separate room away from other members of the household for a minimum of 10 days after the first day and another three days after the end of symptoms.
Their caregivers must always wear medical masks when interacting with them. The surfaces, dishes and household items an infected person touches should be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected at least once a day- and should have their own separate utensils.
Coronavirus patients should also be monitored for high fever, rapid breathing, lethargy, difficulty in feeding, chest pains, loss of speech or mobility, confusion and blue lips or face. Once the Covid symptoms have cleared out, a patient is advised to re-test for the virus after five to 14 days because reinfection is possible.
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