A team from the Inter-Agency Joint Task Force based in Naguru Command Center has  visited the planned COVID-19 nontraditional isolation facility at Mandela Stadium (Namboole) to assess the roles the security forces will be required to play when the facility starts operating.
“We’ve come here to see that what we are going to enforce is possible,†said Brig Gen (Dr.) James Kiyengo who led the team.
He added that it was imperative that the team visited the facility at the planning phase so that it could fit security considerations into the bigger plan for running the facility for an effective security output.
He said the key role of the security forces will be to provide access control and perimeter security.
Mr. Brendan Stack, the Operations Program Manager for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) that is supporting Kirudu Hospital in setting up the facility briefed the Task Force on the planned layout of the facility and time frames so as to guide the deployment of security personnel. Kirudu Hospital will run the facility that will handle only asymptomatic and mild cases.
Mr. Brendan said that CRS is currently fixing the floor, walls and sanitation of the facility to handle up to 160 patients (80 males and 80 females) and the equipment for this phase such as beds and mattresses are already supplied. He added that in two weeks the first phase preparations would be complete and the facility would be ready to receive the first patient.
Mr. Brendan also said that phase two of the program would be expanding to cater for 500 patients, estimating that Mandela Stadium could potentially accommodate up to 3000 mild and asymptomatic cases in phases, with each phase requiring different security requirements. He further said that the facility setup caters for families too so that there is a little separation of family members as possible.
