In his third address since the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak was declared in the country, Ugandan President Gen Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni has placed the districts of Mubende and Kassanda under lockdown.
Museveni placed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the two districts to stop the spread of Ebola to other districts.
The restrictions touched on transport, movements, and education. Museveni’s Saturday night address was the second this week.
Here is a summary of the new restrictions:
- Movements into and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts is prohibited.
- Public, private transport and boda bodas are not permitted to move in Mubende and Kassanda districts to curb Ebola
- Only cargo, government and emergency vehicles will be permitted to move in Mubende and Kassanda districts. They are not allowed to transport people in and out of the districts.
- Schools in Mubende and Kassanda will remain open and learners are allowed to move while wearing their school uniforms. Temperature for learners and teachers should be tested daily. Any absence from school should be reported.
- People travelling across Mubende and Kassanda (crossing through the districts) are permitted to move, with police clearance. They are not allowed to stop or pick up a person in the two districts.
- There will be curfew in Mubende and Kassanda districts starting from 7 pm to 6 am in the morning
- All seasonal markets in Kasanda and Mubende districts are suspended
- All bars, places of entertainment, gyms and saunas in Mubende and Kasanda will be closed
- All places of worship in Kasanda and Mubende will be closed.
- The mines in Mubende will remain open for the people in Mubende, and the mines in Kasanda for the people of Kasanda. No crossing over will be allowed.
- Ministry of Health (MoH) to mobilize and deploy 10 vans to transport workers in the two Districts. Health workers with cars will be given permits to move within their districts.
- MoH to provide PPEs, the protective clothes to all health facilities, private and public, in the two districts.
In his first address, Gen Museveni had ruled out a lockdown.
But an Ebola patient run from Mubende to consult a witchdoctor in Luweero before dying of Ebola in Kampala. This and many other factors forced Museveni to declare a lockdown over the districts of Mubende and Kassanda. (Read Stories Here and There).
