Nakaseke District Task Force has banned outside catering service providers at funerals as one of the ways to restrict the number of mourners in line with the Standard Operating Procedures-SOPs aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
The district has cumulatively registered 457 positive COVID-19 cases.
Thirteen of these are hospitalised in critical condition while 124 have recovered. Some of the cases are under home-based care.
Nakaseke District COVID-19 Task Force says that they have observed that despite the restriction on the number of mourners to less than 20 people, huge numbers of people show up at funerals, which may fuel infections.
Nayebare Kyamuzigita, the Chairperson of Nakaseke District COVID-19 Task Force, says that apart from attending burials in high numbers, the mourners stay there for days because of the availability of free food provided by outside catering service providers.
Kyamuzigita says that they have resolved to ban outside catering service providers to encourage the bereaved families to prepare their own food and leave early to contain the spread of the virus.
“We are stopping people from hiring catering services as another way to reduce the activities that attract people to burials,” Kyamuzigita said.
James Makande, the former Kasangombe sub-county LC 3 Chairperson has welcomed the ban, saying that it’s no longer necessary to hire outside catering service providers to prepare food for only 20 people allowed at burials.
Makande says that other social events have been contained but burials remain the biggest challenge that may fuel the spread of the virus in rural areas.
Ronald Ssebuyungo, a resident of Kikamulo Sub County, says the ban is a minor step towards stopping the virus and instead asked the government to vaccinate as many people as much as possible to end the pandemic.
Ssebuyungo says that the ban will instead contribute to unemployment since the catering service providers recruit local women to prepare food for mourners.
He also wondered what would happen if the bereaved family prefer to hire outside catering service providers to save them the burden of cooking.
Early this week, the Nakaseke District COVID-19 Task Force banned the airing of death announcements on community radios (megaphones) as one of the measures to stop the mobilization of people to attend burials.
Nakasongola has so far registered 178 COVID-19 cases with 78 recoveries and eight deaths. At least 17 health workers have also tested positive for COVID- 19.
Luwero district has registered over 350 community cases and 23 deaths.
