Government slaps travel restrictions on nine more countries

People flying into Uganda from nine more countries worst hit by coronavirus will be put under mandatory quarantine at their own cost for two weeks following an increase in the number of new cases registered per day and cumulative number of cases in their countries, the government has said.
Last week government put travel restrictions on seven countries but yesterday Dr Ruth Jane Aceng, the Health minister, revealed that more nine countries had been added to category one.
The affected countries include Italy, San Marino, South Korea, France, China, Germany, Spain, Belgium, USA, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Iran, Austria and Malaysia.

The preferred alternative, Dr Aceng announced yesterday, for such people, whether Ugandans or foreigners is to suspend travel to Uganda until the outbreak is contained.
“Six countries previously in category two, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, and United States of America have moved to category one because of the increase in the number of new cases per day and cumulative number of cases,” Dr Aceng said during a media briefing at Ministry of Health headquarters yesterday.
The coronavirus outbreak first came to light in December last year in China, and at least 113,702 people worldwide have been infected, with 4,000 killed by yesterday.
Coronavirus first presents as flu and cough and eventually grows into respiratory complications and high fever.

Uganda is among the different countries worldwide that have instituted safeguards against the spread of the virus, and has in recent weeks only advised travellers from such countries to go into self-quarantine for 14 days when they arrive in Uganda. After 14 days without exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus, one is declared free of it.
Dr Aceng added that people arriving from countries that have been classed as category two will be observed very closely.

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Hotels, tour companies and game parks are affected as several foreign tourists and business travellers postpone or cancel their coming into a country marketed as the Pearl of Africa

The countries in this category are Finland, Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan.
The rest of the countries are under category three and travellers arriving from there will undergo routine screening upon arrival and be advised on how to prevent possible spread of the virus.

Under self-quarantine, one stays at home, hotel room, or any identified accommodation without mixing with family members or the general public for the period of 14 days.
Currently, government is working with Civil Aviation Authority to consider spraying all travellers who arrive into the country as they disembark from the aircraft.
A total of 1,632 travellers including Ugandans and others travelling back home have been identified for purposes of follow up.
Of these 1,071 are Chinese, 244 are Ugandans, 43 are Italians, 34 from South Korea and 484 from other nationals.
A total of 986 travellers are under self-quarantine of which 606 have completed the mandatory 14 days quarantine.
Makerere School of Public Health has organised a dialogue on Friday to educate masses about coronavirus.

The cost of coronavirus worldwide

German. German airline Lufthansa said yesterday it would cancel 23,000 flights across the group, a 50-per cent reduction. “Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the spread of the virus,” Lufthansa said it would scrap 23,000 flights between March 29 and April 24, with more “expected in the coming weeks”.

Norway. Norway’s armed forces cancelled an exercise yesterday that was meant to gather 15,000 NATO and allied soldiers from March 12-18 because of concerns over the new coronavirus. “The coronavirus is out of control,” the head of the army’s operations centre, Rune Jakobsen, told reporters.
Netherlands. The Netherlands will this year break a long tradition of supplying flowers for the Pope’s Easter address because of the coronavirus outbreak, if it goes ahead at all, organisers said.
For the past 35 years, Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican has been decked out with tulips, daffodils, roses or orchids donated by the Netherlands, one of the world’s biggest hubs for cut flowers.

United Kingdom. A former British government minister on Wednesday called for parliament to be suspended after an MP was infected with coronavirus.
Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities announced Wednesday they were closing schools and universities across the country for three weeks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The government said in a statement it was also banning all mass events in the country with more than 200 expected participants.

Polland. Poland’s prime minister yesterday said government has decided to close down all educational and cultural facilities for two weeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 25 people in the EU member state to date.
US. Major American universities -- including Harvard, Princeton and Columbia -- have been forced to cancel classes and move lessons online, affecting tens of thousands of students.
Italy. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte put his entire country on lockdown Monday to combat the coronavirus, banning all but the most important travel and putting the final kibosh on social gatherings after Italians failed to take previous warnings to heart amid skyrocketing infections.

Premier League. Arsenal’s game at Manchester City on Wednesday was postponed after players from the London club were put into quarantine, making it the first Premier League football fixture to be called off because of coronavirus.
Arsenal said players and four staff had been isolated at their homes after coming into contact with the owner of Greek club Olympiakos, who has since tested positive.
India Open. The Indian Open has been postponed due to the coronavirus threat, the European Tour and Asian Tour announced yesterday.
French league. The French League Cup final between Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, scheduled for April 4, has been postponed amid efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, a league statement said Wednesday. The league (FFP) said a new date for the match, which was to be played at the Stade de France, would be fixed in consultation with the clubs, broadcasters and the French football federation.

Spain
Tennis tournaments at all levels in Spain will be held behind closed doors “until further notice” to try to stop the spread of coronavirus, the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) said on Wednesday.