At Signpost International we want to continue to keep you up to date with the current Coronavirus situation in the countries and communities we work in.
At the time of publishing (3:30pm on Wednesday 13th May 2020) this is the current situation in the countries we work in.
Uganda
There are now 126 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Uganda and no confirmed cases in the communities we work in.
The situation in Uganda is virtually the same as it was last week. Schools and places of worship remain closed and public transport is still not operating. But some specific shops, such as wholesale stores, hardware stores and take away restaurants are back up and running. President Museveni will next week announce if there will be further eases on the restrictions or if they will remain the same for a longer period of time.
Tanzania
According to the official figures released by the government of Tanzania there have been 509 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tanzania and 21 confirmed deaths.
President Magufuli and his government are continuing to make headlines in relation to COVID-19 as they refuse to release data on new cases. The figures above are from the 29th April the last day official data was released. Last week, the President revealed that he secretly had animals and fruits samples tested at the national health laboratory in charge of coronavirus and that some returned positive results. He later closed the laboratory.
The US embassy in Tanzania have responded to this by warning that there is a risk of “exponential growth” of Covid-19 cases in the country and a high risk of contracting the virus in the largest city, Dar es Salaam. They have also advised Americans living in Tanzania to stay at home and limit interactions with people other than those they live with. Whereas President Magufuli is continuing to urge people to keep working as usual.
The Philippines
There are now 11,618 confirmed cases of the virus with a death toll of 772 in the Philippines. There have been no confirmed cases in the neighbourhood of West Habog Habog where we work. West Habog Habog is a neighbourhood in Iloilo city which remains in enhanced community lockdown at the moment but from the weekend restrictions will be eased after the city was designated as low risk. This means that our partners in the Philippines can go back to work in the office as of Monday. They will need to adhere to a strict health and safety policy including a reduction in working days and staff working alternate days to reduce risk.
However there are many parts of the country that are still designated as high risk and will continue to remain in enhanced community lockdown till cases of COVID-19 drop. This is the case in the country’s capital, Manila which next week will enter week 12 of lockdown.
Please pray for our partners in the Philippines as they return to work and adapt to the new challenges of working in a socially distanced environment. Thank you for your continued support.
