The ministry of health over the weekend sent back 22 delegates traveling into the country at the Entebbe International Airport from reportedly high-risk COVID 19 countries for refusing to follow the current protocol to self Isolate themselves.
The 22 delegates arrived on Saturday ahead of the Uganda-EU Business Forum that was slated for Monday, March 9, 2020 to Tuesday, Mar 10, 2020 at Speke Resort and Conference center,Kampala
Uganda is hosting a two-day business forum that is attended by delegates from Europe.
On Friday, the ministry of health asked travelers from countries with high cases of COVID 19 not to travel to Uganda.
It also put in place as one of the preventive measures Self-quarantine of 14 days for all travelers coming from COVID 19 hit zones.
Currently, the ministry has categorized Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, China, Germany, and Spain as countries whose citizens have to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days even if they do not have coronavirus symptoms.
According to the Ministry of Health, the 22 delegates arrived in the country on Saturday, but were not willing to follow the Ministry’s self quarantine guidelines and as such were asked to return to their countries of origin.
Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, the minister of health took to her Twitter handle to announce what transpired and explained that the 22 delegates exhibited no signs of COVID 19 while at the Entebbe International Airport.
“Yesterday, we received 22 passengers from the Category 1 countries who were identified by our health workers at the airport. None of them exhibited signs and symptoms of COVID 19. We informed them about our procedure of self quarantine for 14 days. However, they were not willing to undergo this self-quarantine,” said Dr Aceng.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health continues to be on high alert and with messages being put across all available platforms on COVID-19 to the public on how to prevent the virus including regular handwashing, no handshakes, avoiding large gatherings, covering the nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing and self quarantining from home when unwell among others.
In Africa, a total of 9 countries including Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, SouthAfrica, Morroco, Cameroon, Tunisia, Togo, and Nigeria have all reported cases of the COVID -19 virus with over 90 people infected and 2 deaths recorded.
Most recent data from the World Health Organisation shows that over 106,759 people have been infected with the disease in over 92 countries.
