President Museveni, however, emphasized that if Ugandan fail to observe the set guidelines and restrictions he will be left with no option other than announcing a total lockdown.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has
suspended inter-district for all private and public transport means in a bid to
contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) with reports showing an increase in a surge of cases and
community infections.
The announcement is part of the list
of measures that President Museveni announced on Sunday evening that will
strictly be observed under the renewed effort to curb the COVID-19 second wave in
the country.
Although inter-district travel has
been banned for 42 days, the president says this measure will be effected
starting on June 10, 2021, with a window of three days left to enable school
children to return home given the fact that schools have also been closed for
the same period.
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Selected categories of vehicles have
been waived from the inter-district travel restriction including; cargo
vehicles (with not more than two people-driver and one turn boy), registered
tourists’ vehicles, essential and emergency vehicles. However, the president
says this excludes districts of Wakiso, Mukono, and Kampala.
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However, public transport within the
same district is not banned but vehicle operators have been asked to observe
the set SOPs for transport which include; ensuring that all passages have
masks, limiting the number of passages to half of the normal vehicle capacity
among others.
The president has also suspended
communal prayers in mosques and churches as believers have been asked to pray from their
respective homes or make use of the mass mediate case was during the first
national lockdown. However, marriage ceremonies, burials, and vigils have been
allowed so long as they don’t exceed 20 people and are held in strict observance
of standard operating procedures.
Furthermore, all public gatherings,
conferences have also been suspended except for The Cabinet, Parliament, and
The Judiciary.
Museveni also banned travelers from
category A country (high-risk countries; currently only India is listed in this
category. But he added that over time, this might be revised by the ministry of health.
Other suspended activities include;
weekly non-food markets and monthly cattle markets, bars, cinema halls, discos,
and concerts while Sports events have been allowed to go on without spectators
but still under strict observance of sops including testing participants before
each game.
Shopping malls and supermarkets have
also been allowed to operate under close surveillance for about one week and it
is found that they cannot adhere to SOPs, they will be closed.
In the same development, Shopping
arcades, hardware shops, saloons, garages, food markets, lodges, and other
commercial entities have been allowed to operate up to 7; 00 p.m. though curfew time has been
maintained at between 9;00 p.m. and 5; 30 a.m.
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Museveni says that unlike in the
past, those found in violation of the set guidelines and restrictions will be
fined a yet-to-be-set fee. The president says the secretary to the treasure will
issue security controlled receipt book for this purpose.
//Cue in; “Instead of arresting…
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He, however, emphasized that if Ugandans
fail to observe the set guidelines and restrictions he will be left with no
option other than announcing a total lockdown.
//Cue in: “Government will…
Cue out…total lockdown.”//
To date, Uganda has registered a
total of 52,929 covid19 cases. Of these 374 have succumbed to the disease while
43,487 have recovered. However, only 8 percent of the infected patients are
currently admitted to hospitals.
