Besigye: "Extending lockdown is good but poor people could die"

Opposition strongman Dr. Kizza Besigye has said the extension of the Covid-19 lockdown to 21 days is okay but is worried that some people could die of hunger because of government's reluctance to provide them with relief aid.

President Museveni yesterday announced an extension of the national lockdown for three more weeks as one of the measures to contain and curb the spread of Covid19.

In an interview with NBS TV on Tuesday night, Besigye concurred with the idea of maintaining the lockdown noting that the purpose is to protect the people of Uganda from the deadly pandemic.

Besigye said the extension of lockdown is therefore very critical especially for some hospitals and healthcare centres whose capacity is extremely limited to handle many cases of the virus.

"it's very important that we don't have massive numbers of people getting sick at the same time. So in these circumstances, avoiding the spread of the virus is extremely important and hence the lockdown which helps in distancing people," Besigye said.

Besigye express concern however that the lockdown could lead to death of some people especially the poor who might not be in position to afford essential items like food.

He said government should consider carrying out mass testing to know how widespread the virus.

While addressing the nation weeks ago President Museveni said mass testing is very expensive for a country like Uganda.

"We don't know the prevalence of the virus in the country. The only people being tested are those who were quarantined while travelling from outside or those who have developed very clear signs. Only about 50% who get infected develop symptoms,"Besigye said.