This article was first published in the New Vision on April 21, 2021
By Agnes Kyotalengeire
Kyotera is one of the districts at the border of Uganda and Tanzania, a country that refused to observe the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of COVID-19.
What is worrying is that people from Tanzania use the porous borders to cross over into Uganda in search of health services and other opportunities.
Such risky behaviour has put schools in the border communities at risk of contracting COVID-19.
Indeed, a secondary school and an institute in the district registered COVID-19 cases.
These were Insula Senior Secondary School that registered 30 cases — 28 students and two teachers. The school is located 13km from the Mutuluka border. The other was Ndegeya Core Primary Teachers College.
Fighting COVID-19
Last November, Insula Secondary School registered its fi rst two COVID-19 cases. The headteacher, Tony Kiggundu, says the students exhibited COVID-19-related symptoms that included general body weakness, headaches and loss of appetite.
The students were rushed to Kakuto Health Centre IV for testing and were positive for COVID-19. A few days later, more than six students tested positive for COVID-19. At that point, the headteacher decided to have all students tested. A team of medical workers from Kakuto Health Centre IV together with members of the district COVID-19 task force went to the school and picked samples from the students and sent them to Entebbe for screening, says Emmanuel Kizito, the school’s deputy headteacher.
Kizito says the district COVID-19 task force, with support from Hygiene Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC) project, implemented by Amref Health Africa in Uganda, facilitated the picking and transporting of samples to Entebbe to test the students.
Twenty-two were positive, bringing the total to 30.
In December, Ndegeya Core Primary Teachers College also registered 45 students and one teacher infected with COVID-19.
The principal, Jane Patricia Nambalirwa, says the first case was a student whose parents had picked to attend a funeral.
Nambalirwa recalls that the college started registering COVID-19 cases after that student returned.
“Suddenly, the nurse noticed many students were reporting to her with flu, coughs and fevers that seemed to be spreading fast,” she says.
This prompted the principal to inform the district COVID-19 task force, which picked samples from students for screening.
On the first day, 10 students were confirmed to have COVID-19 and by the second day, the number had grown to 20. The students were isolated and treated. Daily, a team from the district COVID-19 task force would be called to pick samples of students who exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 for screening. Gradually, the number of new cases registered daily reduced and by the tenth day, there were no new infections.
Managing The Sick
After the two institutions registered COVID-19 cases, officials from the district COVID-19 task force advised the institutional heads to isolate the ill students, treat them and fumigate; disinfect the school buildings.
Nambalirwa says beds were placed in one of the large classrooms and the students isolated there.
The institutions bought fruits and vegetables to boost the students’ immunity and quicken the healing process.
Besides, all the students were required to steam every morning using infusions of guava and mango leaves as well as herbs.
“It was not easy to steam over 300 students, but we had to encourage them to do it,” says Nambalirwa, who describes the situation as being tense.
“Every morning, the cooks would boil huge herbs in huge saucepans and through roll call, each student picked the hot infusion and steamed,” she explains. Nambalirwa thinks that could have prevented the students from developing a severe form of COVID-19.
When the college re-opened in October last year, the college nurse was instructed to take the students’ temperature and give each of them a vitamin C tablet daily to boost their immunity.
Challenges
Complacency and not observing the standard operating procedures is the biggest challenge the schools in the border district are battling.
“People think COVID-19 was a political gimmick, thus students fi nd wearing masks a burden,” Kiggundu says.
Accommodation for teachers is another challenge. Most teachers do not reside at school as per the Ministry of Education and Sports guidelines at the re-opening. Majority of the teachers commute, putting the students at risk of contracting COVID-19, Nambalirwa says.
Struggle To Keep Afloat
Although some schools have not registered COVID-19 cases, the headteachers say they are struggling to meet the COVID-19 SOPs.
For instance, the headteacher of St James Secondary School, Claire Nabatanzi, says the school has received 128 masks from the Government, which are insufficient. As such, the school embarked on making masks for students.
Providing handwashing facilities, liquid soap and sanitisers is costly. Each handwashing facility costs about sh250,000, making it difficult for schools to afford enough. Ensuring a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and spices such as ginger and garlic to boost their immunity has also increased the schools’ budget.
Although the Government allocated a special fund to schools and institutions of learning in support of the COVID-19 SOPs, some school officials say the money was not sufficient.
For example, Ndegeya Core Teachers College received a boost of sh12m at the re-opening in October last year, but Nambalirwa says it was a one-off, and the money was used. She appeals to the Government to continue supporting the school.
Preventive Measures
Administrators from various schools in the district say students have been sensitised on how to protect themselves against COVID-19. Also, school nurses have continued monitoring the students by taking their temperature and giving them vitamin C tablets daily.
Luckily, since the first outbreak, the schools have not registered any new cases of COVID-19.
School visitation days were abolished as a measure to prevent bringing the infection in the schools, Kiggundu says.
He adds that after Insula Senior Secondary School registered COVID-19 cases, all students who were day scholars (commuting from home) were asked to reside in the school so as to prevent new infections.
District Officials Speak Out
The Kyotera district inspector of schools, Peter Serunjogi Ntalagi, says before the institutions re[1]opened, the officials conducted visits to ensure that SOPs were being followed.
Serunjogi says observing social distance is still a challenge. Very few schools have single-seater desks and sufficient classroom space to ensure the two-metre distance between students.
“We used to have three or four students sitting on one desk yet one of the guidelines calls for one student per desk. Fifty learners would occupy one classroom, but due to the social distance of two metres, one class is occupied by about 20 learners,” he notes.
Serunjogi advises teachers to use the available desks plus the limited space in schools to observe a two-metre social distance.
