Museveni imposes total lockdown, Public, private transport banned

The death of 234 Ugandans due to Covid-19 in the last one month has forced President Museveni to declare a total lockdown in Uganda, six months after the state had made pronouncements of a gradually phased re-opening.

‘‘All cross boundary and inter-district movement of public or private transport is banned for 42 days starting June 18 (10pm local time). The movement of persons needs to be stopped since it is the cornerstone of the rise in cases,’’ President Museveni directed.

Pounded with a 17% flash of accelerated fast spreading Covid-19 cases, Uganda has between May 18 to June 18 also recorded 25, 685 new infections.

‘‘Only tourists from countries that vaccinated people can come. When we have a situation of about 17 new cases in every 100 tests, then we are in danger,’’ Mr Museveni warned.

‘’The airport will remain open but we shall not allow any virus to come in,’’ he added.

Resurging at a time when Uganda had started flattening the curve, president Museveni said 42 Covid-19 deaths were announced Friday, coupled with 1,564 new cases.

‘’There may be more death diagnosed by other means. We are aware that the Covid-19 deaths and cases maybe more than this,’’ he said.

Mr Museveni told the nation in a Friday night televised address that a return to robust measures and a revolutionary approach adopted during the first Covid-19 wave was inevitable.

‘‘When we take measures to prevent, we succeed. This situation was anticipated by government and hence manageable,’’ he said.

A deliberate alteration of protocols to curb the virus will now see curfew times pulled back to 7pm from 9pm.