COVID-19: Wearing Face Masks Becomes Mandatory.

In a bid to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, President Museveni has announced that it is going to be mandatory for everyone to put on a face mask while in public.

Museveni made the announcement while addressing the nation about the COVID-19 lockdown at State House Nakasero on Monday night, May 4.

“We are going to make it mandatory for everybody who is not in his/ her home to wear a cloth face mask covering the mouth and the nose. These are currently being produced by Nytil and other factories,” he said.

“It is because remember the virus rides on the droplets. This virus cannot fly by itself,” he added.

There are however countless queries regarding the masks Museveni recommended as they may do little or possibly nothing to prevent a person from acquiring the virus.

Currently, Uganda has confirmed 89 COVID-19 cases as of the time the presidential address was made.

These include 55 Ugandans, 12 Tanzanians, 14 Kenyans, 3 Burundians, 1 Canadian, 2 Chinese, 1 Indian and 1 Congolese.

Out of these, 30 are truck drivers.

Uganda has so far tested 38,845 persons for COVID-19 but only 89 tested positive.

The 38,845 figure, however, doesn’t include 601 persons who have tested in the rapid assessment survey recently sent out to the field by the Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng.

The survey teams were to conduct tests on various people such as those residing at the border points, truck drivers, immigration officials, security officers among others who could have gotten into contact with COVID-19 patients.

Out of the 601 tested, only 1 tested positive for COVID-19. The positive case is, however, part of the 89 COVID-19 confirmed cases.

As a result, Museveni said that Uganda is doing well in containing the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“This means that we have somehow caned the virus although we cannot say that we have eliminated it,” he said.