In his latest address to the nation about Uganda’s efforts to contain the novel coronavirus, President Museveni announced that shopping arcades and salons will resume operation under strict SOPs.
Arcades and Salons have not been in operation since 20th March when the country went on full lockdown.
He opened his remarks with a video showing the impacts of COVID19 around the world and also thanked Ugandans for adhering to government guidelines.
I want to thank you Ugandans for listening to directives from the government and Ministry of Health, as well as health workers who haven’t been home in four months.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
To this day, Uganda is yet to register a Coronavirus related death – with 1072 people testing positive for the virus and 958 recovering.
The President kept heaping praise on “his scientists” who have been working tirelessly on the frontline to see that the nation gets back on its feet fully functioning.
“We have very good scientists. That is why I would like you to agree with my idea of paying scientists very well. They can do a lot for this country. If you attack our scientists, I will tell you to go to hell.”
In an address that provided more insight on the government’s efforts to relieve the lockdown strictness and as well keep an eye on the coronavirus prevalence, President Museveni provided positive updates on the operation of arcades, salons, and commercial Boda Boda cyclists.
“110 arcades will be allowed to open because these are the ones that have been found to be compliant. The rest will have to meet the standards.”
President Museveni
Arcade and operators will be required to wears masks and face shields all the time, and also provide an avenue for sanitizing in the premises. They are advised to also practice social distancing. They have been advised too, to have temperature guns to keep testing each other and their customers.
There have been solutions for the “Boda Bodas carrying passengers” problem. The passenger will be wearing a mask. The rider must put on the helmet which will cover the face. The experts have said that this is ok.
Boda Bodas commercial cyclists though will only come into effect on Monday 27th July after the Ministry Of Works in conjunction with the Health ministry have allocated specific “cycle stops” of operation to avoid them crowding in specific places. They will too be required to have masks, face shields, temperature, and records books for unfortunate cases if the said cyclist catches the virus.
Churches, recreational centers, and sports activities will have to wait a little longer to get back into action as the health experts argue the affinity for contracting the virus is high.
The state of education still bears a dark cloud hovering over it but the President advises all may not be lost just yet.
“For education, I do not want to declare a dead-year yet because a lot of scientists are working on the vaccine and it may come sooner than later. Let us give it a month and focus on distance learning.”
President Museveni on school resuming.
In other developments, Curfew hours have been extended, as the movements will now be restricted from 9pm to 5:30am while motorcycles curfew starts at 6pm, while air transport is still grounded and borders closed to external entry.
