Ebola: Mubende school suspends cold meal packages for pupils
By Dan Wandera & Barbara Nalweyiso
As one of the measures to prevent further spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), school authorities in Mubende district have temporarily suspended cold meal packages opting for only hot ones.
One such school is St Kizito Madudu R/C primary school, located at the epicenter of the outbreak in Madudu Subcounty.
The decision has been taken after the school registered a sharp drop in the number of pupils reporting for studies from 640 to just 170 pupils in the first week of the outbreak.
Maxim Nkwesiga, the headteacher says they have also embarked on sensitizing parents and guardians about the importance of good hygiene and dangers that come with the cold meal packages from home amid the increased Ebola threat.
“The cold meals that parents park for the children are at times compromised in terms of hygiene. Our school is located at the heart of the Ebola pandemic. The hygiene of the food containers is at many times compromised. We don’t want to risk the lives of our children since the school is already located in an area that has a red line for the Ebola disease,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Mubende RDC and Chairperson of the district Ebola taskforce, Ms. Rosemary Byabasaija has commended the School for the initiative but rallied parents to bring back the children to school.
The Ministry of health has confirmed that as of October 1st, cumulative cases of Ebola stood at 41 after 3 new cases were confirmed.
These were from tests carried out on suspected cases from the high-risk districts of Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kasanda, Kagadi, and Bunyangabu.
The cumulative confirmed deaths stand at 9, with over 700 contacts are under follow-up, and admissions stand at 24.
