COVID-19: Kampala traders, arcade owners warned against complacency

HEALTH   VIRUS

Traders and arcade owners have been warned against relaxing the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or face possible closure.

The warning came as the number of coronavirus positive cases were increasing at an alarming rate especially in Kampala, fearing that further escalation might force the government to consider another lockdown.   

The Kampala Resident City Commissioner (RCC) Faridah Mayanja Mpiima, during a tour of arcades and shops in downtown Kampala on Monday, called upon traders to comply with the SOPs or face closure.

She said that the government had utilized all avenues to warn the public about the dangers of COVID-19 but many were still treating the pandemic as a ‘mere joke.

"We are urging people in Kampala to comply with SOPs. We are not begging them if they don't comply, we are going to close all the shops," she told journalists after her tour, saying she had been alarmed with what she had found on the ground, with a high level of non-compliance.  

She was accompanied by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) deputy executive director, Eng. David Ssali Luyimbaazi and KCCA police commandant SSP Kitumwa Rusoke.

She vowed that the city authorities were not going to continue watching as cases of COVID-19 escalate at an alarming rate.  

"We are down here on foot trying to encourage people to always have SOPs in mind but the sad part is that people are not minding about COVID-19 and I don't know why," she remarked.

The team was shocked by the crowds in a corridor that joins Kikuubo Lane to Nakivubo Road, where traders selling along the sideways attracted many customers, slowing down movements of people.

"We are not going to let this happen, we are imploring all Kampala people, mostly traders, to comply. Sanitize, have water for washing hands, put temperature guns in place and wear your masks 24/7 and put a string for customers for the recommended meter distance," Mayanja stressed.

According to Mayanja, their visit was intended to check on the traders and remind all those who were still treating the coronavirus situation as a ‘mere joke'.

She said the team was disappointed by the situation on the ground especially where they found many shoppers crowded in some shops and not wearing masks.

She said coronavirus cases were shooting up at an alarming rate in the city and appealed to people to rise up, saying prevention was better than cure.

Luyimbaazi ordered for the closure of one shop at Qualicel Shopping Centre after workers failed to explain the absence of SOPs. He later said the place was closed to send a signal to other traders to comply.   

According to Luyimbaazi, most traders acquired temperature guns but do not know how to use them. He said some traders keep their sanitizers in their drawers and many did not wear masks properly.