Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday announced new restrictive measures against the Covid-19 epidemic, including the suspension of travel within the country for at least six weeks, as the rate of contamination reached a record high in this East African country.
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Both private and public passenger transport is prohibited, but borders will remain open for tourists and freight transport. A curfew will be in effect from 7:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
"All vehicles (carrying) passengers are stationary,"
President Museveni said in a televised address.
Traders, mainly providing food products, will have to stay in their stalls and will not have to return home. Factories and construction sites were encouraged to keep their workers at workplaces and construction sites. The new measures will come into effect on Friday at 10 p.m. and will remain so for at least six weeks. Uganda imposed drastic measures last year after only recording a handful of cases. But the epidemic has surged in recent weeks, straining the fragile health system.
Doctors told AFP that oxygen and drug shortages were affecting hospitals as daily cases increased over the past three weeks from 100 to more than 1,700. And this despite measures announced last week including the closure of schools, bars and most gatherings.
“The hospitals are full,”
warned Yoweri Museveni said. Uganda has recorded 70,893 cases of Covid-19 including 582 deaths.
