KIU, Western Campus – Last month, as Uganda’s COVID-19 confirmed cases clocked 40, the Ministry of Health launched the “Tonsemberera” or “Keep your distance” campaign to slow down the spread of the disease in the country.

And Davis Ssebayigga, a second-year student of Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at KIU Western campus quickly became one of the campaign’s ardent followers.

“I do not allow anyone to come close to me. If I really have to talk to someone, they must be at least 2 meters away,” Ssebayigga, who is keeping indoors at his parents’ home in Lyantonde said.

Ssebayigga, whose mother is a qualified nurse, says his parent’s medical background has helped him in working out a preventive behavioural approach to social engagement.

“Of course sometimes you need to go outdoors sometime, for example for shopping foodstuffs, but I always tell the people I meet to stay as far away as possible and I also encourage them to treat other people the same way,” he said.

The World Health Organization identified social distancing as one of the most effective methods of preventing a person from contracting the Coronavirus.

Limiting his movements has helped Ssebayigga to get enough time for his studies, going through his notes and sparing some time to learn from videos about anatomy, specifically about parts of the human head, which he got from a colleague at campus.

“I have two reading shifts of two hours each, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. In the mornings, I read my notes and in the afternoons, I study the anatomy videos,” he said.

He says apart from the academic part, he does some gardening at their home and he is currently growing vegetables, with sukuma wiki being his favourite since it’s the first time he is growing it.

He says he also watches movies via his Netflix app on his laptop, and he’s currently watching Krypton, a popular series.

Being an ardent Catholic, Ssebayigga makes sure he prays and reads the rosary throughout the day.

“This pandemic is a strange thing for all of us and like always when things go wrong, we have to turn to the almighty God for deliverance,” he said.