Vendors are making a quick kill at Kawempe national referral hospital after management imposed mandatory face mask-wearing for all visitors and patients.
Those without face masks are being turned away by security and administrators manning the gate, who, are also checking the body temperatures of all visitors. The impromptu decision of the hospital management to curtail the spread of coronavirus, saw vendors selling improvised masks stitched from clothes, invade the hospital entrance to sell masks at Shs 1000. Uganda currently has 55 confirmed coronavirus cases, 20 recoveries and 0 deaths.
Jonah Muwanguzi, one of the vendors said that by 7 am, he was already at the hospital entrance to sell the cloth masks. He disclosed that he had made three orders to his supplier, a tailor who deals in Kitengi wear to make for him face masks. He said he's already sold more than 80 masks.
His fellow colleagues are also tapping into the newly created demand. Entebbe hospital deputy executive director Dr Lawrence Kazibwe said the vendors have become a nuisance but the hospital doesn’t have the mandate to keep them away from crowding the only entrance to the hospital. Kazibwe noted that they recommend the use of proper masks, which are in line with the World Health Organization specifications.
"You have heard that with this pandemic, begin by protecting yourself, staying at home, social distancing and if inevitable, we’re now advocating that you move out with masks. Which kind of masks? Those that have been recommended to us. I don’t expect patients to move around with N95, then what will health workers use especially us who are likely to get in contact with probable cases." said Kazibwe.
It’s understandable as to why people visiting Kawempe opt for the cloth or kitengi mask. Just adjacent to the hospital, private pharmacies sell the recommended mask at Shs 25, 000, which is too high for many patients that visit the government healthcare facility.
Today Thursday, during their first webinar on infection prevention and control and community of practice for COVID-19, experts at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised against the all-time use of the face mask. Prof Folasade Ogunsola, an expert in medical biology said patients going to hospitals don’t need to wear masks all the time.
"The evidence for cloth masks as protective doesn’t exist. People have studied cloth masks and some of the best studies have found that…there are certain things you need to look at. The type, how tight it is, difficulty in breathing. The best when tested and it wasn’t tested for COVID there was 30 per cent [effective] as a medical mask and most of them were actually useless." said Ogunsola.