COVID - 19 & EMERGENCY HEALTH MONTHLY REPORT

JANUARY 2021 Table of contents

♦Table of Contents 1

♦1.0 Introduction 2

♦2.0 COVID - 19 Phase IV 3

♦3.0 Emergency Preparedness Response 4 1. Restoration of Family Links 4 2. Points of Entry Operations for COVID - 19 Prevention and Response 5

♦4.0 Other health services offered in January 2021 6 A. Blood Mobilization 6 B. Emergency Medical Services 6

♦Road Traffic Injuries Pictorial 9

♦5.0 Risk Communication and Community Engagement 12

♦6.0 Water Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) 13

♦Water Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) pictorial 15

♦7.0 Challenges 16

♦Achievements 16

♦8.0 Partners 17

♦Contact Us Back Page

“Saving Lives”

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 1 1.0 Introduction

The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread rapidly both globally and nationally in Ugan- da. As of 31st January 2021, the COVID - 19 statistics were as follows:

Global Confirmed cases Confirmed cases 102,083,344 102,083,344

Confirmed cases 39,579 Cummulative deaths Recoveries 324 14,051

Based on the URCS mandate, the National Society developed a COVID-19 preparedness and response plan of action that has been key in guiding the preparedness and response process. This is cured un- der the following seven intervention areas:

Risk communication & Coordination 1 2 Community Engagemnt

Surveillance (Including Infection Prevention & 3 contact tracing) 4 Control (IPC)

5 Safe & Dignified Burials (SDB) 6 Psychosocial support (PPS)

URCS Capacity 7 Strengthening

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 2 2.0 COVID - 19: Phase IV

During the last quarter of 2020, the Ministry of Uganda Red Cross is part of the Community En- Health in Uganda confirmed that the country was gagement Sub-Committee chaired by Professor experiencing Phase IV of the COVID-19 pandemic. Omaswa.

To this end, the Prime Minister of Uganda - Hon. Currently, URCS is championing the roll out of the Ruhakana Rugunda launched the National Com- strategy in in close collaboration with munity Engagement Strategy which focuses on Ministry of Health, Kampala Capital City Authority addressing the community spread and directing and other Partners. efforts towards behavioral change for a COVID-19 free Uganda.

◊ Official launch of the National Community Engagement Strategy in 20th October 2020 at Hotel Afri- cana, officiated by the Prime Minister of Uganda - Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda.

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 3 3.0 Emergency Preparedness response

In January 2021, Uganda Red Cross has focused From reports received from the RFL teams de- on emergency preparedness and response to cas- ployed at Entebbe and Regional Referral es arising from road traffic crashes, election vio- , 144 phone calls were made by COVID-19 lence, COVID-19 prevention and response and in patients in Entebbe and Mulago and they were all this brief, COVID-19 related responses will take successful. precedence. According to the statistics on patients who have been able to restore and maintain family links with 1.Restoration of Family Links their family members, there was a noted increase Services to COVID - 19 patients in numbers compared to the previous months. The messages exchanged between family mem- During emergencies, a number of people lose bers included; sharing of the health status of the contacts and communication with their close fam- patients, requests for essential items from their ily members and loved ones. family members, requests for pick-up after be- ing discharged and several family members were Uganda Red Cross bridges this gap by providing informed about patients that required to get in emergency communication services to the affect- touch with their respective family members. ed people through a program dubbed ‘Resto- ration of Family Links (RFL).’

In January 2021, the Restoration of Family Links (RFL) services were offered in the refugee settle- The phone services are ments and referral hospitals such as Mulago and a means of offering Entebbe where COVID-19 cases are referred. psychosocial support Majority of the beneficiaries were able to restore and mental health well- family contacts through the phone services of- being of the people fered by the Uganda Red Cross. A total of 853 affected by COVID-19. phone calls were made out of which 482 calls were successful.

Table 1: Summary statistics of RFL Services’ offered in January 2021

Service Entebbe Mulago Total Phone call attempts 56 24 80 Successful calls 54 21 75 Number of males served 36 12 48 Number of females served 20 12 32 Number of patients/ suspects by end of 48 96 144 the month Refugee settlements 709

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 4 3.0 Emergency Preparedness response

The activities implemented at the high risk POE’s 2.Point of Entry (POE’s) include: Operations for COVID - 19 ◊ Risk communication in communities close to the Prevention and Response border points, In November 2020, Uganda entered Phase IV of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Ministry of Health ◊ Screening all people crossing the border points, refocused its priorities and concentrated on dis- tricts with high cases and efforts directed towards ◊ Disinfecting trucks that bring in essential goods, implementing Community engagement and risk communication activities. ◊ Contact tracing and surveillance in communities,

“URCS scaled down from Points of Entry that are ◊ Ambulance and referrals for contacts and com- not high risk and strengthened in areas with high firmed cases, COVID - 19 cases.” ◊ Offering psychosocial support to the affected Today, URCS is supporting the Government of families among other priorities as guided by the Uganda to implement prevention and response Ministry of Health and the National COVID-19 Task activities at 7 Points of Entry which include: Mu- force. tukula, Malaba, Elegu, Entebbe Airport, Busia, Mi- rama and Kikagati.

Table 2: Summary highlights for support accorded to the following priority areas this month

Activity Total Number of people screened at 7 Points of Entry 5,983 Number of people reached with risk communication 219,632 Number of communities (villages) reached with risk communication/ COVID-19 1,357 prevention messages Number of community alerts responded to 27 Litres of disinfectant sprayed (Points of entry) 3,324 Number of quarantined individuals reached with psychosocial services 0 Number of volunteers deployed at 7 Points of Entry 84 Number of COVID-19 contacts traced 144 Number of people reached with ambulance services / COVID-19 75 Number of people reached with ambulance services / non COVID-19 69 Number of people trained on COVID response 54 Number of PPEs distributed in January 0 Number of Phone calls made for family tracing 853 Total number of people served/ reached 226,794 URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 5 4.0 Other health services of- fered in January 2021

More health services were offered by URCS during the month of January 2021 that contributed to the B.Emergency Medical Services well-being of people amidst the COVID-19 Re- sponse time such as: Through the Ministry of Health, Uganda Red Cross ◊ Blood mobilization undertakes Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to ◊ Emergency Medical Services (EMS) save lives of people affected by life threatening emergencies such as road traffic accidents, disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 and other emergen- A.Blood mobilization cies. By September 2020, Uganda Red Cross with fund- ing from the Government of Uganda through the Safe blood, saves lives Ministry of Health procured additional 10 ambu- lances to re-inforce emergency response. These ambulances have been positioned on major high- As part of the mandate of the URCS, blood mobi- ways to support the country around hot-spots. lization remains a key lifesaving effort of the Na- tional Society. Through a coordinated mechanism with Ministry of Health, Uganda Red Cross ambulances support Uganda Red Cross continues to work with the COVID-19 related calls and response to highway Uganda Blood Transfusion Services under the Min- Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs). istry of Health to mobilize voluntary blood donors. In January 2021, the ambulance and referral ser- Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic, Uganda Red vices offered support to the general public with 15 Cross through its 51 branch network continues to ambulances (10 deployed for RTI and 5 for COVID mobilize community sessions aimed at mobilizing - 19, Below are statistics to detail the response: blood to meet the blood target of the country. SECTION ONE: ROAD TRAFFIC INJURIES Table 3: Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) per district

District No. of District No. of 17,238 cases cases units of blood Budaka 1 Luwero 2 were raised in Bugweri 6 Masaka 1 January 2021 Buikwe 3 Mbarara 2 Hoima 5 Mityana 1 Blood donors are mobilized and screened to de- Jinja 7 Mubende 8 termine one’s eligibility to donate blood. Eligible donors are bled and blood prepared for storage Kakumiro 1 Mukono 1 and dispatch to hospitals. Kalungu 1 Soroti 1

Further details such as how much was utilized and Kampala 5 3 is usable can be retrieved from the Uganda Blood Kywegegwa 1 Wakiso 3 Transfusion Services report on the same. Lira 1 Total 53

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 6 4.0 Other health services of- fered in January 2021 : RTI

Diagram 1: Bar Graph showcasing distribution of cases by District 22nd December 2020 to 22nd January 2021

Table 4: RTI cases by Gender

Gender Total Female 14 Male 39 Total 53

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 7 4.0 Other health services of- fered in January 2021: RTI Road Traffic Accidents by Gender

In January 2021, Uganda Red Cross worked closely with the Government referral hospitals to receive emergency cases as indicated below: Table 5: Total number of RTI cases per receiving/ referral facility Total no. of Receiving facility cases Bombo 1 Busiu hospital Centre IV 1 Hoima Regional referral hospital 5 Iganga hospital 2 IMC Yusufu Lule Road 1 Jinja referral hospital 10 Kakumiro Health center IV 1 Kasana Luwero 1 RRH 1 Kiruddu National referral hospital 1 Kumi orthopedic hospital 1 Masaka National referral hospital 2 Mbale Regional referral hospital 5 Mbarara Regional referral hospital 2 Mount Elgon hospital 1 Mubende Regional referral hospital 9 Mulago National referral hospital 5 Naguru 1 Tororo General hospital 2 UCI 1 Grand Total 53 URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 8 Road Traffic Injuries (RTI) pictorial

1 2

◊ 1 & 2: #Masaka: URCS Emergency care of- ficers worked together with Traffic police to extricate a man that was trapped under a road accident car wreckage 3

◊ A boda boda cy- clist involved in a life threatening accident receives pre-hospital care from URCS volunteers 6 5

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 9 4.0 Other health services offered in January 2021: COVID - 19

SECTION TWO: COVID - 19 RESPONSE This section covers the 5 ambulances attached to COVID - 19 response in the community

Table 6: Total number of COVID - 19 cases Table 7: COVID - 19 cases evacuation referred by ambulances per district by Gender

Total no. of Total no. of Districts Districts cases cases Bullisa 1 Female 30 Hoima 2 Male 45 Jinja 30 Grand Total 75 Kampala 2 Kapchorwa 14 Kumi 1 Lira 1 Mbale 2 Mubende 1 Mukono 1 Namutumba 2 Serere 1 Soroti 16 Tororo 1 Grand Total 75

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 10 4.0 Other health services offered in January 2021: COVID -19 In January 2021, URCS worked with the following hospitals under the coordination of the Ministry of Health to receive the COVID-19 cases / alerts as follows: Table 8: Total number of COVID - 19 referrals per receiving/ referral facility Receiving facility Total Referrals Doctors plaza 1 Entebbe hospital 1 Hoima CTU 2 Jinja Referral hospital 24 1 Kapchorwa General hospital 2 Kumi Orthopedic hospital 1 hospital 2 Mbale Regional referral hospital 7 Mt Elgon hospital 4 Mubende Regional referral hospital 1 Mulago National referral hospital 7 Nalufenya Children’s hospital 1 Platinum Hospital 1 Soroti Regional referral hospital 16 St. Francis hospital 1 Tororo General hospital 2 UMC Hospital 1 Grand Total 75

Ministry of Health shares weekly briefs and updates on the comfirmed COVID - 19 cases, deaths and other details per region countrywide.

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 11 5.0 Risk communication and Community Engagement (RCCE)

Since the launch of the National Community Engagement Strategy for COVID-19 on 20th October 2020, Uganda Red Cross activated vigorous response activities that have been tracked through the CEA dash- board.

The dashboard can be acceseed via this link: https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/e9f5ada6- 7282-4f32-83d8-64481d4b6f18/page/D8KjB

Diagram 2: Dash board: URCS COVID - 19 risk communication and community engagement activities

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 12 6.0 Water, Sanitation and Hy- giene Promotion (WASH)

The Water, Hygiene and Sanitization approach has been a key recommendation by the Ministry of Health in fighting the spread of COVID-19 in communities. Uganda Red Cross WASH activation has been active since the onset of COVID-19 prevention and response activities in Uganda. During the month of January 2021, URCS undertook the following WASH interventions:

◊ Coca-Coca – URCS / Hand Washing Promotion Campaign In December 2020, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa committed a grant worth One Hundred Eighty Six Million Uganda Shillings (186Million UGX) towards hygiene promotion for COVID-19 prevention in Uganda. This fund was donated through the Uganda Red Cross Society.

Press Clip: Dated: December 14th, 2020 Page: 37

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 13 6.0 Water, Sanitation and Hy- giene Promotion (WASH) Press Clip: Nile Post Dated: December 10th, 2020 Link: “https://nilepost.co.ug/2020/12/10/coca-cola-foundation-joins-hands-with-uganda-red-cross- society-to-promote-public-hygiene-in-the-fight-against-covid-19/”

◊ A number of other WASH interventions have been implemented across the borders, high traffic areas such as markets, taxi parks and public gathering areas. These include promoting hand washing, enforc- ing social distancing and availing clean and safe water to communities for proper hand washing.

◊ URCS has trained people on proper hand washing, distributed hand washing materials and has in- creased on stock for continued distribution as more activities are being rolled out under the Community engagement activities within Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso and other key high risk areas.

Table 9: Total number of COVID - 19 cases Table 10: Number of People reached with referred by ambulances per district WASH interventions by Gender Activity Total Gender Total Number of people trained 12,013 Female 10,533 with proper handwashing Male 1,537 Number of hand washing 157 materials distributed to com- Grand Total 12,070 munities Number of people that 12,070 have been reached with our WASH interventions through the month of January. URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 14 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) pictorial

◊ Jerricans donated by Coca-cola to support hand washing across the country.

◊ URCS re-inforc- ing the need to wash hands in communities countrywide

◊ URCS ensures that refugee settlement communities have handwashing points

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 15 7.0 Challenges

◊ Continued demand for disinfection services in the communities where the COVID - 19 positive cases are got from. Many look up to the Red Cross for comprehensive support yet some requests are not within the URCS mandate.

◊ Limited resources and logistics to manage the entire country’s needs.

◊ Inadequate Personal Protective equipment for communities such as Masks. Many community mem- bers approach the Red Cross to provide masks, disinfection services, hand sanitizers and soap among other key COVID-19 prevention supplies.

Achievements: High-end and life saving “It is such a great experience for communities that have shared positive feedback on successful execution of ambulance evacuation assignments, which included among others the pre-hospital management of clients/patients, safe transportation & delivery of the respective patients to referral facilities in and around Kampala, Wakiso, Mukono, Buikwe, Jinja, Busia, Tororo, Mbale, Gulu, Bukwo, Budaka & Tororo.

This continues and emergency medical teams work 24 hours. Community alerts are received throughout, contacts made through the Police, local Red Cross branch offices, and other community leaders. URCS is working closely with other line ministries of Gov- ernment and entities to offer emergency lifesaving services to the vulnerable people. ”

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 16 8.0 Partners

URCS COVID - 19 & Emergency Health Monthly Report - January 2021 17 Contact Us

Name Designation Email address

Robert Kwesiga Secretary General [email protected]

Director, Health and Social Ser- Dr. Josephine Okwera vices/ URCS COVID-19 incident [email protected] commander Communications and Public Re- Irene Nakasiita lations/ External partner liaison [email protected] COVID-19

Dr. Arnold Ezama Coordinator COVID-19 [email protected] response

Uganda Red Cross Society

National headquarters: Plot 551/555 Rubaga Road

P.O.Box 494 Kampala, Uganda

Tel: +256-414-258701/2, +256-312-260615/6/7 Fax: +256-414-258184

Email: [email protected]

- Uganda Red Cross Society - UgandaRedCross - Ugandaredcross - Uganda Red Cross Society