COVID-19: A year later, government says curfew still necessary

Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo has said that the 9pm curfew instituted to curb the spread of Covid-19 is still necessary both from a health and security point of view.

Opondo said that by maintaining the curfew, government is trying to make sure that they are not taken by surprise in terms of a spike of Covid-19 positive cases or in terms of crime.

Opondo made remarks at the Uganda Media Center, while giving an update on the COVID-19 situation and government efforts since the first lockdown was imposed in Uganda.

Opondo said: "Covid-19 still has no cure, some countries are imposing new lockdowns either for the whole country, or regional. We are taking a guarded action so that as we reopen, we are not taken by surprise," Opondo said.

Opondo said that in terms of health, the ministry of Health talked about the possibility of a third wave which can take many unexpected turns including attacking younger and vulnerable population groups and government would not want to spoil all its achievements in the Covid-19 fight at almost the final hour.

In terms of security, Opondo said that you cannot just let a population that has spent a year without working to finally be free to do what they want, especially at night, as these might resort to crime using the cover of darkness.

"It is necessary to take cautious steps,  in a view that people don't use darkness to violate the Standard Operating Procedures and security," Opondo said.

"It is critical in easing up and therefore still necessary."

Opondo said that since last year, government has been easing up on earlier lockdowns that were imposed in March 2020 and currently they are handling education institutions. He urged Ugandans to maintain the calm and safeguard the progress Uganda has registered.

Since the first positive case of Covid-19 in March last year, Uganda now counts a total of 40,625 positive Covid-19 cases as of Friday, March 19, 2021. At least 15,110 people have recovered from the disease while 334 patients have succumbed to Covid-19, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

Having started Covid-19 vaccination on March 10th, 2021, the Health ministry says that they have so far vaccinated 7,929 people.