By Stuart Bogere

KIU, Main Campus - The Ugandan government is set to open a 1,200-bed COVID-19 treatment facility at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole next week as the country prepares for a surge in Coronavirus patients after the recent spike in cases.

In a tweet, the Director of Clinical Services in the Ministry of Health Dr Charles Olaro said the preparations for the facility have been finalized and they are ready to take on the task of handling COVID-19 patients. 

Uganda currently has 1,154 active cases of COVID-19 and the burden on the country’s health sector will increase in the following weeks, with concerns that the rising numbers of community transmissions will see more patients needing admission.

On Monday, President Yoweri Museveni held a crisis meeting with the National Taskforce where they discussed possible re-imposing of some restrictions. Museveni is expected to address the country about COVID-19 this week.

Currently, Uganda has 2,426 total cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 after 64 new cases were reported today whereas 3 new COVID-19 deaths were recorded bringing the total COVID-19 deaths to 25.