"Country could be locked down again," warns Ruth Aceng

The Minister of Health, Jane Ruth Aceng, has cautioned the public that the government may enforce another lockdown if Ugandans fail to adhere to health guidelines in the fight against Covid-19.

Aceng who was flanked by the first deputy Prime Minister Gen Moses Ali made the remarks while launching the distribution of free government face masks at the ministry headquarters in Kampala.

Aceng said that Ugandans should be in a position to understand that the lockdown does not stop the spread of coronavirus but it gives it a chance to prepare.

'It is meant to give the opportunity to a country to put place systems to handle the eventualities. So to date, we have 5 laboratories running samples, "she said.

Aceng said the government is more likely to impose another lockdown if the citizens completely fail to observe the precautionary measures to avert the virus.

"People are no longer following the preventive measures and this is evident by what is happening in the markets, taxi, and bus parks. That means the entire country may get cases and we may move to stage 4 which is not desirable," she said.

She added that in such a situation it may cause further infections and mass deaths therefore it may be necessary to consider another lockdown.

Meanwhile, the first batch totaling to 750,000 face masks was dispatched to border districts of Amuru, Busia, Kyotera, Rakai, Adjumani, and Tororo.

The masks are set to cost the taxpayers Shs 81 billion and the government is targeting 35 million Ugandans expected to receive these masks.

During his recent address to the nation, President Museveni promised that the government would provide free masks to all Ugandans as one of the measures to combat the pandemic.