Coronavirus has been confirmed in Uganda and it is also in neighbouring countries. President Museveni has instituted various measures to limit the movement of people, including a ban on all public and private transport, and a night-time curfew. Many shops have closed, and all gatherings are prohibited. The police are enforcing these measures quite vigorously.

Within Potter's Village the staff are taking steps to limit the spread of infection by controlling the number of people coming into the compound. Relatives of our resident children can no longer visit and the number of family members accompanying patients has been reduced to one. Everyone is being screened at the main gate. We have stopped all community visits and most of the staff are now staying on site.

BUT none of this stops babies being born or children getting sick, so our Special Care Baby Nursery and the Childrens Ward are still needed. However, the ban on transport means there are fewer patients visiting the Medical Centre and this has reduced the income from their fees. Also, the parents of our inpatients may well have lost their jobs so will have difficulty paying for their childrens treatment.

Costs of medical supplies and drugs are going up. There may even be difficulty transporting the drugs from Kampala. Staff have bought in extra supplies for now, but they will need to replenish them as time goes by.

With over 40 staff now living on site, there are increased costs for providing meals, laundry, and rubbish disposal.

Friends of Potter's Village is looking at how best to use its reserves to cover this crisis, retain our staff and ensure we still have a service to offer at the end of it. We also want to ensure all staff receive some regular income even if they can't always get to work. We estimate we will need at least £2,000 a month to keep the Medical Centre running.

Would you please help by donating to our Coronavirus Crisis Fund? All the money you give will go direct to Uganda to help Potters Village at this difficult time. Thank you.