The Ugandan government has suspended all ongoing and incoming flights between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo following the Ebola outbreak in the neighbouring country.
The announcement was made by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Diana Atwiine, while addressing journalists at the Media Centre. She also revealed plans to strengthen border security controls to minimize cross-border movements.
“We are suspending all flights to and from DRC to Uganda, and this takes effect within 48 hours. We are going to enhance border security patrols along the porous borders to minimize unnecessary cross-border movements,” she’s said.
Government has also suspended weekly markets and cultural celebrations in border sub-counties, and halted public passenger transport services on River Semuliki.
“As surveillance continues, cultural celebrations along the DRC border have equally been suspended until the situation normalizes. We are temporarily suspending all cultural celebrations, commemorations that attract big numbers of participants along DRC Uganda border,” Atwiine added.
The ministry says screening, testing, and border surveillance have now been intensified, while security agencies have increased patrols to prevent illegal border crossings.
Despite heightened fears, the ministry has allowed schools to reopen, urging the Ministry of Education to enforce strict Ebola prevention measures.
“We cannot deny those children education at this time, but what we can do is to continue to give guidance to provide the SOPs and implement those SOPs, and we continue to encourage the school administration to put in mechanism to monitor all children,” she emphasized.
The Ministry also gave an update on the outbreak, confirming that Uganda has not registered any additional Ebola cases apart from the one earlier communicated on May 15.
“We have not registered any other. All our contacts under observe observation, and none has so far tested positive,” she added.
