COVID19: UK bans entry of Ugandan travellers over surging cases

A statement released by the UK government on Thursday said the decision was reached at following a review of the latest scientific evidence pertaining to the risk of community transmission of Covid-19 variants.

The United Kingdom has announced a ban on travellers from Uganda adding in a move aimed at preventing the spread of new Covid-19 variants that have since wreaked havoc in Uganda and other parts of the world.

The travel restriction takes effect on Tuesday June 29, 2021.

A statement released by the UK government on Thursday said the decision was reached at following a review of the latest scientific evidence pertaining to the risk of community transmission of Covid-19 variants.

“Pursuant to this decision, only British nationals, Irish nationals and third country nationals with residence rights in the UK who have departed from or transited Uganda within 10 days prior to their arrival in the UK will be required to quarantine for 10 days in a government approved facility,” the statement reads in part.

The statement also notes that the measures are temporary and will be kept under review.

“The travel restrictions will only remain in place whilst the level of risks assessed to justify these measures. Several countries have been removed from the quarantine list as a result of measures introduced to mitigate the risk posed by Covid-19 variant of concern, including increased genomic surveillance to reduce the risk posed by variants of concern,” the statement further reads.

This comes at a time when Uganda battling the second wave of the pandemic that struck in March 2020 and has since registered 75,537 cases and snatched 781 lives according to latest records from the Ministry of Health.

The UK also earlier this year also red listed several other countries including South Africa, the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda among others, in a bid to prevent the spread of new variants of Covid-19.