Ebola: Schools Remain Open as Bars, Places of Worship Close in Mubende, Kassanda

President Museveni has issued new directives to help curb the spread of Ebola Virus Disease in the two districts of Mubende and Kassanda.

In his Saturday address to the nation, the president locked down the two districts by placing them under curfew and restricting movement.

He, however, directed all schools to remain open and that learners should be allowed to move when in school uniform.

“Temperature of all learners, teachers and nonteaching staff should be monitored on a daily basis,” Museveni said.

He said any school absence must be reported immediately to the response teams and investigated.

“All children, teachers and non-teaching staff who have had contact with a person who has signs and symptoms of Ebola should not go to school.”

The president ordered all places of worship to be closed.

“All bars, places of entertainment, bibanda, bidandali, gyms, and saunas shall be closed,” he directed.

OTHER INTERVENTIONS 

All burials (whether Ebola or not) shall be conducted by Safe Burial Teams during this period. Samples will be taken from all dead bodies and tested for Ebola.

Government should intensify public health awareness after fully understanding community issues, culture and traditions.

Ministry of Health must intensify surveillance and contact tracing in the two districts to pick out all possible cases.

Enforce hand washing/sanitizing using alcohol hand rub in both districts.

Ministry of Health will secure and deploy twenty (20) ambulances from various districts and Regional Referral Hospitals to the two districts for continuity of essential health services.

Ministry of Health will mobilize and deploy 10 vans for transportation of health workers in the two districts.

Health workers with vehicles shall be given permits by the RDCs to move only within their districts.

Ministry of Health will provide PPEs to all registered health facilities (private and public) in the two districts.

The president said these are temporary measures to control the spread of Ebola.

“We should all cooperate with the authorities so that we bring this outbreak to an end in the shortest time possible.”

In regards to essential health services, Ambulances, vans and medicines have been deployed to support continuity of other health services.

“Those who are sick should use the ambulances to access the hospitals and health workers should use the vans. The Minister for Health and other authorities will provide additional guidance on these directives.”

He also directed a full mobilization of Kampala City into a response mode, saying this should cover Kampala Metropolitan area.

“The Minister for Health and other authorities will provide additional guidance on these directives.”