Govt to start enforcing wearing of face masks soon

The Minister ICT & National Guidance Judith Nabakooba has said it will soon be mandatory for anyone in Uganda to wear a face mask.

The minister said so far 8 million free face masks have been distributed. Officials from the Ministry of Health began serving them to Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono on Friday.

On that background, she says, there will be no excuse for not wearing masks. Masks retail for as low as Shs1,000.

“I want to remind all residents in Kampala to be vigilant and ensure that you all get the free masks being distributed by your local leaders,” the minister said in a Saturday statement.

“Very soon, the government will start enforcing the wearing of masks and there will be no excuses for not having one. So far about 8 million Masks have been distributed countrywide.”

The minister also cautioned people who have continued to flout guidelines that were put in place when the lockdown was eased.

She said the country has started registering deaths but people seem unbothered about the consequences of not heeding guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Uganda has continued to register more COVID-19 deaths and this should be a major worry for everyone… community infections have also started to increase in areas such as Kampala, Kyotera and Amuru districts,” further reads the statement.

“It is unfortunate that despite the deaths and rising community infections, many people are still failing to go by the preventive measures provided by the Ministry of Health. The government is specifically concerned about the situation in Kampala. All key markets and shops in downtown Kampala are no longer following the recommended measures.”

Uganda has so far registered 1176 cases of Covid-19; of these 1047 have recovered and 4 have died. The minister called upon all those involved in businesses that were reopened to put in place measures to facilitate social distancing and personal hygiene.