By Tonny Abet
Government has clarified that Entebbe airport and borders will reopen on October 1 for both tourists and other travellers.The State minister for Information and Communication Technology, Mr Peter Ogwang, told Daily Monitor yesterday that emphasis will be put on the travellers presenting certificates of negative test results for Covid-19, which must be done 72 hours before arriving in Uganda.“For those entering through land borders, we already have our health teams across the borders. The issue at hand is that we need to learn how to live with the disease,” he said.In his latest national address on Covid-19 on Sunday, President Museveni said: “The international airport and land borders will now be opened for tourists, coming in and going out, provided they tested negative 72 hours before arrival in Uganda and provided the tour operators ensure that the tourists do not mix with the Ugandans.”Mr Museveni added: “How will this be done? The tourists will be driven straight from the airport to their destinations or to designated transit hotels that are set aside for that purpose. Business delegations should also be handled in the same way by the local partners. The returning Ugandans, who have negative PCR results, will be allowed to go home. The Ministry of Health will only get their addresses for follow up.”The statement created some confusion among the public who wondered whether the airport will also be open for other travellers other than tourists and businesspeople. Advertisement
Ms Judith Nabakooba, the ICT and National Guidance minister, yesterday clarified that the airport will be open to all travellers entering or leaving Uganda. “Travelling out, it is now mandatory to have negative test results for Covid-19 done within 72 hours before the flight. The same applies to all those travelling to Uganda from other countries,” she said.
