Jeje Odongo, the Minister for Internal affairs has on Thursday said the government is devising means to regulate the entry of cross-border cargo truck drivers as the surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country is attributed to them.
Odongo told reporters at the Uganda Media center that while the country is working tirelessly to keep the spread of COVID-19 under check, these efforts are being undermined by imported cases from the truck drivers.
Odongo explained that by Tuesday this week the country had only 56 cases but the number suddenly jumped to 63 on Wednesday on account of five cross-border truck drivers, four from Kenya and the other from Tanzania plus their contacts.
The Minister said one of the options being considered is relay driving, where a driver from neighboring country hands over the vehicle to a Ugandan driver at the border crossing after the vehicle has been sanitized.
The Ugandan driver will take the cargo to the final destination. In case the cargo is transiting through, the Ugandan driver similarly hands over the truck to another driver at the border crossing after the vehicle is sanitized.
Odongo says the other measure cabinet is discussing is deploying rapid test kits at the border so that the results are obtained before the driver proceeds within the journey.
Odongo, however, noted that this may be costly since each test costs 65 U.S. dollars, and on an average 1,000 trucks cross into the country daily with 3 people aboard.
He also says they would alternatively opt for the drivers park in designated areas to limit their interaction with the public.
