KAMPALA, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has started the process of recruiting more health workers to be deployed in the High Dependency Units and Intensive Care Units as the number of severe and critical cases of COVID-19 surge.
Emmanuel Ainebyoona, ministry of health spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that over 800 workers were required for COVID-19 response.
"Today (Wednesday) we announced the need for the recruitment of 70 medicals workers, including intensivists and anesthesiologists among others," he said.
Ainebyoona said another 766 medical workers were being recruited to reinforce the existing workforce.
"Some of them will be recruited with support from our donor partners while others will be recruited and paid using government of Uganda funds," he said.
The ministry in a statement said the country has graduated into the second wave of COVID-19 with a sharp increase in the number of asymptomatic, severe, and critical cases as well as a significant change in the disease profile.
"This requires additional human resources to operationalize the High Dependency Units and Intensive Care Units capacity in Regional and National Referral Hospitals," the ministry added.
Uganda by Wednesday had registered 91,162 COVID-19 infections and 2,425 deaths. However, 939 cases remain active and are admitted at different health facilities across the country, according to the ministry. Enditem