Covid: Ministry withdraws health personnel from border points
Health officials prepare to collect Covid-19 samples from a woman at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, which was acting as the testing centre for arrivals through Mutukula border point in May 2020. PHOTO | ISSA ALIGA
What you need to know:
- Since the outbreak of Covid in 2020, 161,772 people have been infected and 3,528 succumbed to the virus in the country.
The Ministry of Health has withdrawn medical personnel who have been testing travellers for Covid-19 at border points to reduce government spending on pandemic response.
Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health minister, yesterday said testing takes a lot of resources and strains human resources.
“But also, we want to move forward and learn to live with Covid-19. We are not saying we will not test but we shall have a new strategy for handling issues at the border,” Dr Aceng said.
The centres were created to curb cases of coronavirus and for effective control of the pandemic.
The withdraw of the health personnel comes amid an announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that a new Omicron subvariant, which is feared to be more transmissible than the original version, is spreading to other countries.
The subvariant has reportedly been detected in America, Europe and Asia.
Operations at the border point testing centres were initially halted by the government on January 6 after truck drivers entering the country from Kenya went on strike because of mandatory Covid-19 tests, which they described as unrealistic and exorbitant.
The delays led to countrywide fuel shortages, which triggered sharp increase in fuel prices, which are yet to normalise.
Truckers are among the major importers of the coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Health.
The government was charging the truckers $30 (Shs105,200) but it was waived to $25 (Shs87,700) before the suspension of testing was announced.
But Mr Vianney Lugya, the Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson, told this newspaper yesterday that testing of travellers is still ongoing at Entebbe International Airport.
Since the outbreak of Covid in 2020, 161,772 people have been infected and 3,528 succumbed to the virus in the country.
