After 8 months lockdown, Ugandan artists allowed public performances again

Government has opened up the Arts and Culture sector, which includes music concerts to operate, starting Saturday 19, December 2020 under strict Standard Operating Measures, Nile Post reports.

The development was revealed by Sam Okello, the chairperson, board of trustees at the Uganda National Cultural Centre.

Okello was addressing the press at the Media Centre in Kampala on Wednesday.

According to Okello, UNCC developed a draft of SOPs for the entertainment sector in November and shared it with the COVID-19 national taskforce and the Ministry of Health with a request to review it and consider opening the sector with observance of SOPs.

Okello said that these were approved and allowed to be implemented.

"I am therefore happy to announce to you that our sector (Arts and Culture) has now been opened to operate but with strict observance of the MOH COVID-19 guidelines and SOPs," Okello announced.

According to the SOPS that have been accessed by Nile Post, concerts will have to be held between 7am - 7pm with a total of not more than 200 attendees while social distancing.

Only one entry to the open space venue will be allowed. The entry should have sanitizing and temperature gun systems.

Okello also announced that government will also give events promoters who lost revenue during the lockdown shs 1.2 billion through the Ministry of Gender.

Concerts were banned in March this year through a presidential directive as a measure to combat the spread of Coronavirus.

The concerts open at a time when the country is currently at Stage four of the Coronavirus pandemic with a spike in community infections of COVID-19, and rising concerns from health workers, asking government to lockdown the country again in order to combat the surge in cases.

Uganda is currently counting 28,168 COVID-19 total confirmed cases and 225 Coronavirus related deaths.