To help curb a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the nation, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni carried out sweeping anti-coronavirus measures on Friday.
KAMPALA | LIFESTYLE UGANDA — Yoweri Museveni of Uganda took several new anti-coronavirus measures on Friday, including banning driving except for essential workers in an effort to quell the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the nation.
- Museveni said the new restrictions would last 42 days.
- Uganda has registered 68,778 cases of COVID-19 and 542 deaths so far.
- A curfew that began at 9 pm was pushed forward to 7 pm.
- While shopping centres, churches, and sports arenas were closed.
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Unlike the majority of other African countries, Uganda had been relatively untouched by the initial COVID-19 outbreak. However, this changed abruptly last month when authorities confirmed that they had detected the Indian variant of the virus.
In a televised address, President Museveni said that the COVID-19 pandemic is growing more aggressively and sustainably. Since three weeks ago, fewer than 100 people were testing positive each day; today, that number has increased to over 1,700.
“The COVID-19 epidemic has been growing aggressively and sustainably,” Museveni said in a televised address.
“As of the end of last week, COVID-19 patients have tested positive over 1,700 times daily, up from less than 100 just three weeks prior.” We are seeing very high hospitalization rates and death rates among all age groups.”
”In just three weeks, the daily number of positive tests has jumped from 100 to over 1,700. COVID-19 patients are being hospitalized and dying at very high rates across all age groups.”
He banned both public and private vehicle movement except for vehicles transporting patients or being used by health care workers as part of new measures to curb the pandemic.
The curfew originally began at 9 PM but was moved to 7 PM despite venues like busy shopping centres, sports aces and churches being closed.
According to Museveni, the new restrictions will last 42 days .
There have been 68,778 COVID-19 cases reported in Uganda so far, and 542 deaths have been reported.
In the last two weeks, local media have extensively reported that most health facilities, both public and private, are at or near capacity and are turning away patients, while others are running out of oxygen.
New restrictions could sabotage an economic recovery that has already been damaged by last year’s lockdown.
As a result of those restrictions, the economy contracted 1.1% in 2020, but the finance ministry projected before Friday’s measures that growth would jump to 4.3%.
