Health ministry relents, arriving passengers can receive Covid-19 results from home

The Ministry of Health has said all travellers arriving at Entebbe International Airport will be allowed to go home and self-isolate until they receive their Covid-19 results, effective Friday.

This was confirmed on Tuesday by the Minister of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng while briefing Members of Parliament.

“Allow travelers to go home and self-isolate after sample collection until they receive their results,” Aceng said.

The development comes a week after President Museveni launched a testing laboratory at Entebbe where all arriving passengers, irrespective of vaccination status have to undertake a mandatory Covid-19 PCR test on arrival at the airport.

Since the introduction of the new mandatory testing, many incoming passengers have complained of long queues and having to wait for hours at the airport to get their results.

However, with the new resolution, incoming passengers will not have to wait for their Covid results at the airport but rather from their homes.

“So, from November 5, travelers will be allowed to go home after testing. The ministry will strengthen the surveillance system and follow up of all identified positive cases,” Aceng said.

She added that the travelers will be required to provide adequate information for easy traceability .

Data from the health ministry shows a total of 34 positive cases of Covid-19 were detected from the 7363 tests done in five days at Entebbe Airport.

The minister told Parliament that the National Information and Technology Authority (NITA-U) will develop a tracking system between Wednesday and Thursday to track all identified positive cases.

The minister also applauded the working teams at Entebbe Airport for supporting the government’s new mandatory testing.

“Allow me to appreciate the teams working at the airport, to appreciate those who have provided information and to state clearly that we regret the inconvenience that has happened to the travellers ,” Aceng said.