Government to address Parliament over coronavirus

Mar 17, 2020

The ministers said this after Speaker Rebecca Kadaga read a travel advisory from the Ministry of Health that was addressed to all ministers on postponement of international conferences and meetings in light of COVID19.

CORONAVIRUS

The Ministry of Health will today present an official statement to Parliament on the impact of the coronavirus after the Monday Cabinet meeting whose main agenda will be on the pandemic.

The Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Vincent Ssempijja and Sarah Opendi, state minister for minerals said Cabinet will come out with decisions on mitigation measures on the virus.

The ministers said this after Speaker Rebecca Kadaga read a travel advisory from the Ministry of Health that was addressed to all ministers on postponement of international conferences and meetings in light of COVID19.

Ibrahim Semujju (Kira Municipality) said there were cases of the virus in Kenya and Rwanda and Ugandans need assurance on the state of preparedness.

He said Uganda depends on Kenya for fuel and it is announcing the closure of schools and institutions. "If Kenya closes its border with Uganda because of one case here, it will cause panic," Semujju said.

Opendi said there was no need to panic as there was no reported case in Uganda. Bahati said Government will bring another statement on the economic impact of the virus on Thursday answering the question of fuel shortage scare raised by MPs.

Obua said the Confederation of Africa Football has postponed all games for the Africa Cup of Nations between 25 to 31 March 2020. Obua said this includes the Uganda Cranes and South Sudan match.

Geoffrey Macho (Busia Municipality) said there are many porous border entry points between Kenya and Uganda and need virus protection measures during the Easter holidays and market days. Macho asked government to remove taxes on hand sanitisers and provide them to local communities.

Apollo Masika (Bubulo County East) said the SARS virus paralysed life in China, but China recovered. MPs called for tight border control measures including Karamoja region to prevent the disease outbreak.

Robert Ntende (Bunya County South) said people of his constituency were using doom spray and pesticides to ‘sanitise' their hands because of the costly hand sanitisers.

Betty Bamukwatsa (Rukungiri Woman MP) said the prices of hand sanitizers have been hiked from shs35, 000 to shs50,000.  Bamukwatsa said this is high for schools to afford. She said the visiting days in schools might impose health risks.

State Minister of Finance David Bahati said the Ministry of Finance would also present a statement to Parliament on Thursday, 19 March 2020 detailing the economic effects of COVID19 and how they are being mitigated to save the country's economy.

Members of Parliament tasked Government to weigh in on the impacts which the threat of the coronavirus is having on Uganda citing a hike in prices of necessities for hygiene precaution like disinfectants on the market.

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