iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
The former skipper said that the tennis champion is an inspiration to women in sports
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Uganda locks down two districts over Ebola outbreak
Travel barred in Mubende and Kassanda after 19 deaths and 58 confirmed cases of the disease
Doctors walk inside the Ebola isolation section of Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in Mubende. — AP
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday imposed a lockdown on two districts at the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak, barring personal travel, ordering a night curfew and shuttering public places.
The health ministry says there have been 19 deaths and 58 confirmed cases of the often-fatal viral haemorrhagic fever since the outbreak was first reported on September 20.
Authorities say the outbreak is concentrated in the central districts of Mubende and Kassanda and has not reached Kampala, the capital of 1.5 million, despite a husband and wife testing positive there.
In a televised address, Museveni on Saturday ordered Mubende and Kassanda into immediate lockdown, imposing a dusk to dawn curfew, banning travel and closing markets, bars and churches for 21 days.
“I now direct as follows: Movements now into and out of Mubende and Kassanda districts are now prohibited,” said Museveni, a guerrilla leader turned president who has ruled Uganda since 1986.
“If you are in Mubende and Kassanda districts, stay there for 21 days.”
Cargo trucks will still be allowed to enter and leave the two areas, but all other transport — personal or otherwise — was suspended, he said.
Museveni had already ordered traditional healers to stop treating sick people in a bid to halt the spread of Ebola, and ordered police to arrest anyone suspected of having contracted the virus who refused to go into isolation.
Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, with common symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.
Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban environments.
Uganda’s last recorded fatality from a previous Ebola outbreak was in 2019.
The particular strain now circulating in Uganda is known as the Sudan Ebola virus, for which there is currently no vaccine.
The World Health Organization says clinical trials could start within weeks on drugs to combat that strain.
More news from
Friday’s 20% fall in shares dragged Adani Enterprises 11% below the minimum offer price of the secondary sale
Around 800 delegates are expected to attend the event and a number of speakers will be sharing stories of success, especially how they created opportunities for others during the pandemic
Saving deposits increased during the first eleven months of 2022 by 1.98%
A mostly political argument that could turn into genuine financial trouble this summer if the US runs out of accounting manoeuvres to keep paying its bills
A growing number of wedding and event planners across the globe have been recommending the city to couples as the perfect venue for such a once-in-a-lifetime event
Move is part of an effort to rebuild US influence; counter China’s growing nroads in Latin America
Energy bulls, however, argue the sector’s valuations bolster the case for a third-straight year of gains