Uganda Bans Flights to and from India

Uganda Bans Flights to and from India : Uganda bans flights to and from India because of the increased new covid-19 cases of the new Indian variant also known as the that is believed to have originated from India. Uganda confirmed her first case of covid-19 in march 2020 and the cases kept on increasing but with the help of the ministry of health together with other government bodies a number of safety precautions were put in place to prevent the increase of the covid-19 cases measures like the mass distributing of masks, putting the country under lock down, closure of the tourism destinations, closures of the country entry points and airport, mass vaccination of the citizens against covid-1 led to the decrease of the number of covid cases making the country among the safe countries to visit during the covid19 global pandemic.

With the increased foreigners that come to the country, there has been a threat of new corona virus variants that have posed a threat to a number of people worldwide and among the newly registered variant is the COVID-19 B.1.617 from India which has recorded a total of 18 million cases of covid-19 and the B.1.617 new variant has claimed a number of lives of people it should be noted that within 24 hours, India confirmed 400,000 new cases and because of the shortage of oxygen supplies and ventilators, it has led to the increase in the number of deaths in the country.

The health minister of Uganda Dr. Ruth Aceng confirmed that Uganda has one case of the Indian strain and because the variant is much more deadly as compared to other variants, the country came to the decision of banning flights to and from India as a way to contain the virus from spreading to the locals. The health minister announced that starting at midnight 1^st may 2021, all flights from and to india are banned and all passengers Travelling to the country.

One of the questions that were raised included whether Uganda national in india were also banned from coming back to their home land well, Uganda nationals that are in india undergoing treatment in the country are the only people allowed to come back to the country amidst the struggles to fight against the new Indian variant.

Travellers that travelled to the country before 1^st may 2020 and were found negative , the minister stated they would undergo isolation at their own cost at a government designated hotel which will help to give time for the virus to incubate and when found positive, treatment will be carried out to prevent the spread of the virus to the locals. Dr. Aceng also urged that the only exempted flights are cargo flights, technical stops however tourists that land in the country for a day or two, they will not be allowed to visit Uganda therefore you should avoid flying to India.

Travellers from south Africa, united kingdom, united Arab emirates, united states of America Sudan, turkey, Tanzania that are under category two were advised to consider non essential travel to Uganda as a way to avoid the spread of new variants that have been discovered in the countries.

The minister of health also told the press even with the ongoing mass vaccination, a number of prevention measures are still put in place to ensure that such variants of covid-19 are controlled some of which include

self isolation of tourists when they land in the country is encouraged to help the virus to incubate in case tourist came in contact with it and if at all they do not show any signs of the virus, they are allowed to take part in their tourism activities.
access is only allowed to tourists that are either vaccinated or took a covid-19 test 120 hours before travel this is done to avoid the spread of the virus
regular disinfection of surfaces that the tourist come in contact with in order to avoid the spread f the virus this is because the virus is believed to live on surfaces for up to 12 hours and more which puts tourists at a high risk of catching and spreading the virus.
emphasis put on masks whereby tourists are encouraged to put on their masks while they carry out the different activities in the country and one their way to the country to avoid catching and spreading the virus.

These with other standard operating procedures have ensured that the country is among the safe countries to visit during the global pandemic which was also confirmed by Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldermarium, the world health organization country representative.