Gizamba, aged 49 and a pastor at the Community corner stone church in Nkoma ward, Northern division in Mbale city died on Wednesday at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital.
According to Dr. Emmanuel Tugaineyo, the Mbale hospital director, the deceased’s samples were picked shortly after he died and were taken to Kampala where they turned positive.
He said that the patient presented with signs of COVID-19 and symptoms which included difficulty in breathing among others.
Dr. Tugaineyo said that the hospital had been keeping the body since at the Mbale city morgue before burial was carried out on Saturday in Bugsege sub county in Sironko district.
However, relatives of the deceased have refuted claims by the medics saying that their person had pressure which he could have died of but not coronavirus.
Charles Wogali, one of the relatives said the pastor has been complaining of pressure for a long time. Wogali said he was surprised to be told by medics that he died of COVID-19.
He wonders why some of the pastor’s family members have not been quarantined or their samples picked for testing.
Asad Gulaoba, the chairperson of Bujoloto cell says that the deceased has been his vice chairperson but every time they met in meetings, he would complain of chest pain.
However, Edward Nyongesa, the Mbale district surveillance officer said that the underlying conditions of pressure and diabetes are the ones that led to quick demise of the victim.
He cautioned residents against such talk of thinking that COVID-19 doesn’t exist saying that the disease is now in the communities.
The death of Gizamba brings to two the number of victims who have died of COVID-19 in Mbale. Last week another 60-year old Hamis Shafic, a resident of Budi B village in the former Namanyonyi sub county in Mbale city was also reported to have died in Mbale Hospital.
Uganda has since registered 20 deaths due to COVID-19.
