Covid: Museveni tightens the noose on curfew; moved to 7pm

President Museveni has directed that curfew be moved from 9pm to 7pm in a bid to control the spread of the deadly virus.

“As such, the curfew time throughout the country is pulled back to 7pm up to 5:30am,”Museveni said on Friday evening while updating the country on the Covid situation.

“All human beings except security and those authorized to move should be their homes.”

The president said many people are not serious with their lives and hence the need to be strict in the way the virus is fought.

“People are not serious. I am getting many calls informing me of people who have died. We told you from March last year.”

The president said the new measures put in place will help reduce on Covid infections which will in turn reduce the pressure on the health system which is currently overstrained by the many Covid patients and subsequent deaths.

Necessary evil

Many people have argued that curfew is being used by members of the security agencies to  extort money from the members of the public.

Earlier this week, Members of Parliament asked government to consider relaxing the curfew because it no longer serves any purpose.

However, recently, the government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo said curfew is still necessary from both a health and security perspective.

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

“It is necessary to take cautious steps, in a view that people don’t use darkness to violate the Standard Operating Procedures and security. It is critical in easing up and therefore still necessary.”