In a bid to prevent the spread of new and more deadly variants of Covid-19, the government has suspended all passenger flights from India effective Friday midnight until further notice.

Based on the current trend of the Covid-19 resurgence, the Health ministry is categorising countries in relation to the Covid-19 risk they pose.

The countries have been categorised according to the presence of variants of concern, high rate of transmission of the disease and number of deaths reported.

Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health minister, said on Friday that no travellers from India will be allowed into the country.

All travellers who have been in or travelled through India in the last 14 days, regardless of the route of travel, will also not be allowed into the country.

“Passengers who were already in transit must present negative PCR test and will then take another PCR test and those who test negative shall undergo self-quarantine under the supervision of the Health ministry, with mandatory retesting between five and 10 days,” Dr Aceng said.

Quarantine
Asked whether the government plans to reinstate quarantine centres, Dr Aceng said: “The Ministry of Health will not reinstate quarantine centres but there will be quarantine in the country at individual cost, especially for travellers. There will be designated hotels where we will work with the private sector to test the individuals. Individuals who travel will pay those hotels (for quarantine). The details will be communicated on May 5 after Cabinet considerations.”

However, cargo flights where crew don’t disembark, technical stops where travellers don’t disembark, operations related to humanitarian aid, medical evacuation and approved diplomatic flights and nationals returning after medical treatment from India have been exempted from the suspension of flights.

Until yesterday, mandatory testing and quarantine had been suspended and travellers only presented a test certificate of 120 hours prior.

Uganda has also registered the UK variant that forced much of Kenya to return to lockdown as cases and deaths soared.

Uganda is also dealing with the Ugandan, Nigerian, and South African variants. Some of these variants have been reported to be more transmissible and severe.

The government has advised people intending to fly into Uganda from the US, UK, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, South Africa, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Tanzania to postpone non-essential travels.

However, those travellers from the above categories who have been referred to as Category Two, including nationals, will be subjected to a PCR Covid-19 test at points of entry.

“Countries not in Category One and Two are exempted from above measures. Individuals from Category One and Two who have received full Covid-19 vaccination and are asymptomatic will be allowed into the country without on arrival,” Dr Aceng said.

Although Kenya is not on the list of any categories, Dr Aceng said this will be looked into and measures enacted accordingly after a Cabinet meeting.

The Health ministry says countries showing rapid increase in number of cases every seven days will be observed and restrictions imposed accordingly.

The measures, unlike in March 2020, when President Museveni announced a raft of preventive measures such as closure of schools and churches before the first case was registered, government has only began to reinstitute the measures after the deadly Indian variant has already been registered in the country.

The UK variant has been detected among 15 people, mostly truck drivers from Kenya, while one patient at Mulago hospital has been detected with the Indian variant, whereas a South African variant has been detected among 15 people, mostly Kenyan truck drivers.

According to Health ministry, epidemiological distribution and impact of thee variants is currently unknown, although more studies are being carried out.

India is currently facing a devastating resurgence of the pandemic, which has left hospitals overwhelmed with shortage of health supplies such as oxygen.

At the peak of the first wave in Uganda, critical patients struggled to find hospital beds.
Uganda did not impose travel restrictions until recently when the Indian variant was detected. Like Uganda, India had maintained low numbers, and such a devastating second wave was far from sight.

“The factors that drive the surge in India are not different from what we are in now. A lot of our people think we have overcome the epidemic because we had a dip in numbers, which was associated with the rise in temperatures during the hot season,” Dr Misaki Wayengera, the chairman of the advisory scientific  committee on Covid-19, said.

He added: “As you have seen, the rainy season is here. Our [infection] numbers have begun to grow and this is consistent with what is happening in India,” Dr Wayengera said.
He said unlike the first surge, the resurgence is heterogeneous as both the young and old are affected.

Dr John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that countries in Africa need to take action to avert a crisis as the one witnessed in India.

“It speaks to the fact that we as a continent must be very prepared. It is a wakeup call. We cannot be indifferent to what is happening in India. We must act now, decisively and collectively,” Mr Nkengasong said.

He said it would be “catastrophic” for Africa’s health systems to try to bear the impact of a huge surge such as the one India was experiencing.

“We don’t have enough oxygen, beds, vaccines or health workers to deal with such a massive attack,” he said.
The African Union will convene an emergency meeting with member states’ health ministers on May 8.
Mr Fred Muhumuza, an economist at Makerere University, said Uganda cannot bear the brunt of another lockdown. Mr Muhumuza said a lot has been learnt from previous experiences and preventive measures are the best way to navigate the situation.

Dr Aceng said currently, the country does not need another lockdown but the public has to observe the standard operating procedures (SOPs) against Covid-19.

The adherence to SOPs, however, has lost ground. Very few Ugandans still use facemasks, while social distancing has since been ignored.

As per the resolutions from the 20th ordinary meeting of East African sectoral council of Health ministers, partners states have been  asked to submit accredited laboratories for Covid-19 testing to be linked and uploaded to the regional data by May 15.

Preparation
The Health ministry has overtime warned of a resurgence if the public continues to violate the Standard Operating procedures (SOPs).

The ministry says there has been a gradual increase in Covid-19 cases in the last six weeks, which is an inclination towards the beginning of a resurgence.

Dr Aceng said non-adherence to SOPs, increased travel following reopening of borders and general fatigue in regards to safety measures are some of the contributors to a resurgence.

Districts such as Arua, Gulu, Kiryandongo, Oyam, Kitgum, Jinja, Tororo, Adjumani, Moyo, Wakiso and Kampala have already experienced a surge. Dr Aceng said these districts have remained on high alert and have been carrying out active surveillance.

Resurgence plan

Dr Aceng revealed that an estimated $290.2 million (Shs1 trillion) is needed for resurgence plan. However, this does not include cost of vaccines.

“The resurgence plan is organised around two threshold, control alert and action. The alert threshold is reached when there is an increase of 10 per cent in the number of cases, while the action threshold begins when a 20 per cent increase is observed from baseline in geographical location,” Dr Aceng elaborated.

Some of the activities under resurgence plan include enhanced surveillance, active case search, and procurement of test kits, personal protective equipment, critical care support, strengthening community engagement and risk communication, and supporting vaccination team’s countrywide for period of six months.
“The main objective of the resurgence plan is to mitigate transmission and minimise the public health and socioeconomic impact of a prolonged Covid-19 response,” Dr Aceng said.

On health facilities, Dr Aceng said: “A lot of preparation was undertaken during the first wave and up to now, intensive care units (ICU) were worked on, human resources have been trained to work in the ICU facilities and they have been deployed.”