S.African businessman survives lynching for ‘skipping’ quarantine at Entebbe

A Ugandan investor of South African origin on Sunday survived lynching by residents of Kyabirwa village in Budondo Sub County, Jinja District after he allegedly ‘skipped’ quarantine at Entebbe International Airport as countries impose strict measures to forestall the spread of coronavirus.
This followed his Facebook post gloating over moving freely through Entebbe Airport without being quarantined.
“We landed at 3am this morning from South Africa via Ethiopia at Entebbe. Temperature check and a form to fill in. No quarantine mentioned,” reads his Facebook post in part.

His neighbour, Mr Aloysius Musisi, said his actions of taking health issues lightly could not be tolerated.
“I am his neighbour and I alerted the local leadership after landing on his careless statement. I was shocked because if he was infected, the whole village would suffer,” he said.
Mr Twaha Kisubi, the area LCI Chairperson said he read the Facebook post and notified health workers to ensure Billy is quarantined.

After noticing criticism from his neighbours, the businessman deleted his social media accounts claiming that the message had been posted by someone else.
“I couldn’t write such, the message was posted by other people and not me,” he said.
A team of health workers led by the district health officer, Dyogo Nantamu, examined him and recommended for a 14-day quarantine.
Mr Nantamu told journalists that, the businessman’s temperature levels were normal but he would be quarantined in a hotel of his choice where they can easily monitor him.

The Kiira region deputy police commander, Onesmus Mwesigwa said that they had established a 24/7 security and medical team to ensure that he complies with the self-quarantine guidelines.
“We rushed and rescued him after locals mobbed and surrounded his business camp, a tour site, suspecting him to have coronavirus. We contacted the medical and security team at Entebbe Airport and they said he had been cleared and advised that he quarantines himself,” Mr Mwesigwa said.

In a statement, Ministry of Health, senior public relations officer, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona said there were no COVID-19 suspected cases in Jinja.

"The Jinja District Health officer has indicated that the persons being referred to were undergoing self-quarantine.

However, they have since been moved to Jinja Referral Hospital to complete their 14-day quarantine," he said.

Uganda confirmed its first virus case on Saturday.
The confirmed case is a Ugandan businessman who had travelled to Dubai on March 17, 2020 and returned on March 21 aboard Uganda Airlines.