Uganda’s Health Ministry has admitted to mismanagement of Covid-19 test results being released by laboratories. The ministry says about 679 people were given wrong COVID-19 results. Some people were both positive and negative.

“Some people claim to have received two different result slips, one indicating positive and the other negative. Others claim to have taken two different samples on the same day and these give different results,” said Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health Minister.

Aceng revealed that to clean the mess, only 12 health facilities have been accredited and their staff trained to carry out proper COVID-19 testing.

Nine of the facilities are owned by the government and these include; UVRI, Central Public Health Laboratories, Makerere University College of Health Sciences Laboratory, Adjumani Mobile Laboratory, and Tororo Mobile Laboratory, Mutukula Point of Entry testing laboratory, Infectious Diseases Institute laboratory, Mildmay Laboratory, and Uganda Cancer Institute laboratory.

The remaining three labs are owned by private (for-profit) facilities and they are Lancet Laboratories, Medipal Hospital and MBN laboratory.

The ministry yesterday confirmed 128 new COVID-19 cases taking the cumulative total confirmed cases in Uganda to 3,667. Two (2) COVID-19 deaths were also registered from Kampala and Jinja. This brings the total COVID-19 deaths to 41.