Uganda commissions mobile laboratories to accelerate COVID-19 testing

KAMPALA,

Uganda's health minister Ruth Aceng on Thursday commissioned two mobile laboratories in a move to accelerate COVID-19 testing especially among cross-border cargo drivers.

Aceng said the laboratories will help on-site testing to provide safe, accurate and timely results for the novel coronavirus.

"This goes a long way in boosting our COVID-19 response with the capacity to test for other disease pathogens," said Aceng.

The laboratories were donated by the East African Community (EAC), a regional body bringing together Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

The EAC under the Mobile Laboratory project donated nine mobile laboratories and coronavirus test kits to the six partner states in a bid to detect and respond to COVID-19 and other highly infectious diseases such as Ebola.

Uganda has so far registered 1,000 cases of COVID-19, with 908 recoveries and no death recorded since March 21, according to the health ministry. (Xinhua)