The six pupils from three Lubaga schools in Kampala that had tested positive for Ebola have completed their 21 days of treatment and isolation. The learners have now returned to their respective schools .
The Ministry of Health identified the learners after tracing them as contacts of a person who had traveled from the Ebola epicenter district of Mubende and succumbed to the contagious diseases while in Kampala.
After the six pupils tested positive for Ebola, health officials isolated and kept following up on 170 contacts from the schools where the learners studied. But their isolation of three weeks ended on Friday last week with no one testing positive for the virus.
Steven Lwanga the head teacher of God’s will primary school said that their learners are already back in class. The pupils have returned when schools are starting the final exams and they will set off for holidays on Friday of the same week as guided by the Ministry of education cut the term short.
Lwanga added that the 51 learners of primary six will be allowed to study up to November 25th when they will start their promotional exams so that they can cover the content they missed while in isolation.
“We kept in touch with our pupils in isolation. We have been sending study materials provided by UNICEF to the learners in their families to revise during the 21 days isolation period as they were being monitored by the Village Health Teams,” Lwanga said.
John Bosco Mutumba the Vice-chairperson of Masanafu Kinoonya zone and a parent said that the VHT was recording the temperature of their children every day and there has been no child with Ebola symptoms after 21 days.
Mutumba said that community sensitization by the ministry of health through the village health teams has helped to reduce the stigma which was faced by the schools and the learners in the community.
A parent who opted for anonymity said that they have not had any communication from the ministry of health after the elapse of the 21 days of isolation despite the fact that their children are expected to go back to their respective schools on Monday.
UNICEF, the Ministry of Health, and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) visited Green Valley primary school and God’s Will Primary school and briefed the learners on how to reintegrate their colleagues who are from Ebola isolation. The meeting also involved parents of the learners who said that they are still facing stigma in the community since the outbreak of Ebola in their area.
Dr. Alex Ndyabakira the Ebola incident commander in Kampala city response from KCCA said that they have done counseling to all the learners in schools that were affected to make sure that they get to understand how Ebola is spread and also to know that their friends who have been in isolation don’t have the disease.
