Uganda overcomes Ebola outbreak

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Uganda’s president announced late Tuesday that the nation has overcome the latest Ebola outbreak.

‘‘There is no more Ebola in the country. We have overcome Ebola because people have listened,” said Yoweri Museveni, addressing the nation on TV and radio.

He thanked medical staff for working tirelessly to bring the outbreak to an end. He promised to award medals to outstanding medical workers who have helped in fighting the disease.

Last Saturday, Vice President Jessica Alupo officially lifted Ebola restrictions in Kassanda and Mubende districts, which were the epicenter of the outbreak.

“It is 89 days today since the outbreak of Ebola was declared in Mubende district, and we have been responding to contain this outbreak. It is also 63 days since Mubende and Kassanda have been under restricted movements,” she said.

Mubende district has not registered any confirmed cases for 37 days and Kassanda for 40 days.

President Museveni said the cumulative number of people who were infected by Ebola is 142, while 86 people have recovered and 56 deaths were recorded. He said that currently there are no new cases.

The country has been struggling to contain the highly infectious Ebola virus since an outbreak was declared in September.