Entebbe airport sets up safety measures

As government considers reopening Entebbe International Airport to passenger flights, the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) says it has put in place a number of safety measures in line with the recommended standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Mr Vianney Luggya, the UCAA Public Affairs manager, yesterday said the exact date for resumption of flights will be announced by the appropriate authority but some measures have already been drawn based on guidance from the International Civil Aviation, World Health Organisation, Civil Aviation Safety, and Security Oversight Agency, among others.

“The terminal building has already been marked for observance of social distancing, lounge seats have also been marked to allow adequate space and automated sanitisers installed at various strategic points within the terminal,” Mr Luggaya said yesterday during a telephone interview with this newspaper.

Some other SOPs being put in place include partitioning the boarding lounges which are being removed to create more open space, glass shields have been established at immigration counters to avoid direct contact between the officers and passengers and the same is being done at check-in counters.
Mr Luggya added that planes will be disinfected regularly and disinfections of regularly touched surfaces is already taking place.

“Health screening for temperature is enforced at all points of entry to the airport and terminal building using hand-held temperature guns for passengers, the ultra-modern thermo scanners that can detect the temperature of anyone within 30 metres of radius,” Mr Luggya said.

On Tuesday, information indicated that the director of airports and aviation security had informed station managers at different airlines that plans for phase one of reopening of Entebbe International Airport had been concluded.

However, Mr Luggya said the tentative flight schedule that was shared with air operators was only for planning purposes which arose out of an earlier meeting with them at which it was agreed that UCAA shares with them a draft of the proposed schedule in the first phase of resumption of flights.

According to UCAA, tents have been put up by World Food Programme with support from other partners at the airside to be used for health screening and isolation when need arises.
Mr Luggya said detailed SOPs will be formally shared with the public in due course.

Efforts to reach Dr Ruth Jane Aceng, the Health Minister, on whether passengers will be required to undergo mandatory 14 days of quarantine upon arrival at the airport were futile.
 Dr Henry Mwebesa, the director general health services at the Ministry of Health, said the public should await the president’s communication.

Among the draft SOPs, incoming passengers are required to have undertaken a Covid-19 test not more than 72 hours prior to the flight. However, sources told Daily Monitor this condition has raised unresolved issues about its enforcement since a person can still contract Covid-19 within the 72 hours to the flight after the last testing. The source said the matter is still under discussion and government will issue the final position.

Cases
In March, Uganda registered the first coronavirus case of a 36-year-old male resident of Kibuli, Kakungulu zone in Kampala, who had returned from Dubai on March 17, 2020, on a business trip.
Since then, the number of coronavirus cases have shot up to at least 4,101 with 1,876 recoveries and 46 deaths.

[email protected]