Ebola: Uganda Announces Three Week Lockdown, Curfew In Two Areas

Category: Health Matters

Uganda has imposed a three-week lockdown on two areas of the country affected by the spread of Ebola.

President Yoweri Museveni said over the weekend that the government was implementing an overnight curfew in Mubende and Kassanda, in central Uganda.

Nineteen people have died, he said, since the east African nation announced the outbreak on 20 September.

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At least 58 cases of the viral disease have been recorded – and the number of cases and deaths could be higher.

Movement in and out of the two districts will be restricted for 21 days. All transport will be stopped except for cargo trucks.

Places of worship and entertainment venues will be among the buildings that will be forced to shut.

The two districts are the epicenter of the epidemic, Museveni said in a televised national address.

“These are temporary measures to control the spread of Ebola. We should all cooperate with authorities so we bring this outbreak to an end in the shortest possible time,” he said.