ADDRESS
BY
H.E. YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
TO THE NATION
ON
COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESURGENCE
AS OF
18TH JUNE, 2021
NAKASERO
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Dear Countrymen and Women,
Since my last two updates, the country has seen a
more aggressive and sustained growth of the
COVID-19 pandemic as opposed to the earlier
months of April and May 2021. Over the past 3
weeks, the daily number of people testing positive
for Corona has increased from less than 100 to now
over 1,700. This represents a 17 fold increase in
daily cases.
As a result our epidemic curve is now on steep rise
with increased reports of deaths nationwide. (Show
Epidemic curve in figure next page).
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Figure 1: National Covid-19 Epidemic Curve March 2020 to June 17th 2021
2000 2000
1800 1800
1600 1600
1400 1400
No. of confirmed cases
1200 1200
1000 1000
800 800
600 600
400 400
200 200
0 0
27-Jun-20
4-Apr-20
13-Jun-20
12-Jun-21
18-Apr-20
2-May-20
16-May-20
30-May-20
14-Nov-20
28-Nov-20
8-Aug-20
9-Jan-21
6-Mar-21
3-Apr-21
17-Apr-21
1-May-21
15-May-21
29-May-21
21-Mar-20
20-Mar-21
22-Aug-20
5-Sep-20
19-Sep-20
31-Oct-20
12-Dec-20
26-Dec-20
23-Jan-21
6-Feb-21
20-Feb-21
3-Oct-20
17-Oct-20
11-Jul-20
25-Jul-20
Date of confirmation
In addition,
o The proportion of people testing positive from
samples tested (Positivity Rate) has remained as
high as 17%. Yet for us to control the disease
effectively this number has to be less than 5%.
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o There is also what scientists call doubling time.
This is the time it takes for the number of cases
detected to double. The shorter this time is, the
more intense the virus is spreading in the
community. This time has dropped from 68 to
31 days in just one week. This means that if no
major shift in the response is done, the pandemic
intensity will double in one month;
o We are experiencing very high hospitalization
rates and deaths for COVID-19 patients among
all age categories.
o Cases have now expanded to cover most of the
country. When I addressed you three weeks ago,
only 61 districts had significant spread of the
virus, as of 16th June 108 districts as shown in
this map below.
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o
Figure 2 Map showing distribution of Cases over the past 21 days
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The top 20 districts are:
Given the nature of this virus, the moment you
detect one case, then it is a matter of time until the
infections expand and the number increases.
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We have noted a number of danger signals in the
trend of the pandemic. These help to alert us to how
we are doing. Some of these include;
Table Summary of Key indicators of Covid-19 in the
country
Danger Signal 22nd-28th 29th- 4th June 5th-11th June
May 2021 2021 2021
Increasing number
of daily COVID-19
2,887 6,308 9,042
cases (number per
week)
Increasing positivity
10.1 16.1 17.2
rate (in %)
Decreasing
admission rate
despite increasing 12 10 8
numbers of cases (in
%)
Increasing
proportion of severe
49 47 57
and critical cases on
admission (in %)
Reducing doubling
time, meaning the
intensity of outbreak 68 36 32
moving faster than
before (in days)
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The rapid surge in the intensity of the pandemic
appears unprecedented, but still manageable using
the similar measures we have used since last year
at the beginning of the pandemic and in all our
previous revolutionary endeavors in the past more
than 50 years.
This situation was anticipated by Government, and
hence manageable because we have the correct
diagnosis, and the means to tackle it.
To date, the country has registered a total of 68,778
COVID-19 cases; where 973 patients (Severe 894,
Critical 79) currently on active admission at both
private and public treatment facilities across the
country, and 42 deaths reported today. This brings
the reported total deaths to 542. These are reported
and confirmed deaths by PCR testing, but there may
be more deaths diagnosed by other means. However,
we are cognizant that both the number of COVID-
19 cases and deaths may be higher than this, and
the Minister of Health will accordingly explain and
update the nation on this.
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However, apart from individuals fall sick or die in
the community or health facilities without being
tested, scientists have also brought to my notice
situations when Covid-19 patients may falsely test
negative.
For example, the individual may have taken the test
and the virus is no longer in the nose or throat, but
the virus is in other parts of the body or it has
already started the “body panic crisis” which in
some cases may lead to death. Some of these deaths
may not be immediately classified as Covid-19 until
further investigation is done. In the longer run, most
Covid-19 related illness and deaths will be well
documented.
But as noted above, despite the rapid escalation of
the outbreak, the hospitalization rates have
remained low, and dropping (from 12 to 8% over the
past weeks as in the table above). This signals
intense that the health system is beginning to get
stained, we must do everything to protect the
integrity of the health system. Since my address 3
weeks ago, the severely and critically ill COVID-19
patients have more than doubled straining the
available oxygen supply. An average non-COVID-19
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critical patient consumes one-to-two oxygen
cylinders per day, however, a severely ill COVID-19
needs four to six cylinders per day.
The current national daily oxygen consumption
stands at 3,000 cylinders per day, where each
cylinder is 6,800 liters. With the estimated COVID-
19 patient increase in the coming weeks, the daily
oxygen consumption will rise to 25,800 cylinders
per day in one month, unless we change the course.
This is nearly a 9 -fold increase in the overall
national oxygen requirement.
The current overall national oxygen production
(oxygen plants linked to our national and regional
referral hospitals), including the private sector is
3,005 cylinders against daily consumption that
stands at 3,000 cylinders. The current oxygen
challenge we are facing is the availability of empty
cylinders for distribution. Of course if cases keep
expanding, it can also outstrip our production
capacity.
As I indicated in my last update, the current
hospital beds to manage COVID-19 patients stand
at 3,793 as summarized below.
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Standard High Intensive Care
Treatment Unit Beds Dependence Unit Unit (ICU) Beds
(n) (HDU) Beds (n) (n)
Mulago National 600 300 27
Referral Hospital
Mulago Women’s - 60 -
Hospital
Regional Referral 900 115 150
Hospitals
Namboole Treatment 1,300 - -
Unit
Bombo Military 120 - 10
Hospital
The seven (7) Ministry 180 - 31
of Health accredited
Private facilities
Total 3,100 475 218
As noted above, unless we urgently intervene to
reverse this, the estimates and observations by
scientists show that the current number of people
needing care will double in less than one month,
outstripping our bed capacity.
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As a result of all the above, my strategic
interventions to maintain the fine balance of
pandemic control will hinge on preventive health
and urgent care for the severely ill. This will be
tackled in two ways.
(a) Urgent interruption (or minimization) of
community transmission to cushion the health
system, sustain our people’s economic lives and
save lives using previously used containment
measures. Government will aim at reducing the
speed and the intensity of transmission to
within the next 42 days so that number of new
cases is less than the available bed and oxygen
capacity in the country.
(b) Ramping up oxygen supply to all COVID-19
treatment health facilities and optimize the
available care capacity so that it can adequately
handle current and new cases over the next 42
days.
I must commend Ugandans; over the last 12 days
many have heeded my directives and the Ministry of
Health SOPs. My mobilisers in and around Kampala
inform me they are staying in their houses more and
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more. They inform me they’re sanitizing more than
before. I have also observed marked reduction in
congestion around Kampala and more use of masks,
meaning people are increasingly adhering to the
SOPs. I thank you and commend you more for this
patriotism.
Despite this positive trend, we need to do more to
preserve and protect our health system and hence
our lives.
To achieve the above two strategic objectives and
augmenting my observations above, starting at
2200HRS today 18th June 2021, I am revising and
updating ALL the directives I issued on the 6th June
2021.
The revision is as follows:
1. Public and private transport: It has been
observed that Taxis/ Boda-Bodas drop
passengers at district boundaries (relay system)
to be taken over by their colleagues waiting
across the boundary districts which may result
in further spread of the virus in communities.
Additionally, it has also been observed that
despite this directive, human beings walk
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across district boundaries. This therefore has
not achieved its intended purpose.
Furthermore, the movement of individuals fuels
virus transmission, and without limiting the
movement of persons which leads to mixing and
re-remixing of individuals in the different
categories of infected and non-infected. This
needs to be stopped since and is the cornerstone
of the current exponential transmission drive.
Directives:
(a) Across the country, the Resident District
Commissioners working with the Chief
Administrative Officers and their District
Health Officers are directed to make all the
necessary arrangements to ensure all
individuals that require medical care and
medical evacuation in their respective
districts, COVID-19 or otherwise are taken
care of.
(b) Only registered tourists’ vehicles will be
allowed to move. These should move directly
to their destinations and designated places.
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(c) Emergency vehicles, police and army
vehicles, and essential workers vehicles will
be allowed to move.
(d) I have defined the ESSENTIAL SECTORS and
where there is need for additional clarity,
The Rt Hon Prime Minister will study such
and communicate accordingly.
(e) Among the Essential Health workers
include doctors, nurses, pharmacists,
veterinary doctors, and other essential
health staff. Details of other essential
sectors will be worked out by the Rt.
Honorable Prime Minister and her team. The
essential workers will be given specific
identifications
2. Curfew:
It is observed that some sections of the public are not
adhering to the curfew hours (2100 Hrs to 0530 Hrs).
Directive:
(a) As such, the curfew time throughout the
country is pulled back to 1900Hrs to 0530
Hrs. All human beings except security and
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those authorized to move should be their
homes.
(b) Boda-Bodas will only be allowed to move
only up to 1700Hrs.
3. Educational Institutions:
Observation: Testimonies from credible sources
indicate that schools had been deliberately silent
about infections among students due to fear of
closure.
Directives:
(i) All schools and institutions of learning
remain closed for 42 days
(ii) The Ministry of Health to reactivate Village
Health Teams (VHTs) under the Community
Engagement Strategy (CES) to strengthen
sensitization of the communities.
(iii) The Ministry of Local Government is hereby
directed to support the Regional Task
Forces (RTFs) and District Task Forces
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(DTFs) to be reactivated and supported to
enforce compliance of all SOPs.
(iv) The Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning is directed to support the Regional
Task Forces (RTFs) and District Task Forces
(DTFs) should be reactivated and supported
to enforce compliance of the existing SOPs.
4. International and Cross-Border Travels:
Entebbe International Airport will remain open,
but we shall ensure the no virus, or new
variants enter Uganda. Uganda’s land locked
country. All cargo movements, to and out of
Uganda will be allowed without any disruption.
Directives
(a) Cargo truck drivers at land-border crossings
will be tested allowed to move and be
followed up at the designated Seclusion
Areas and holding places for Cargo trucks.
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(b) The Ministry of Works and Transport is
hereby directed to reactivate the operations
of Seclusion Areas for Cargo trucks.
(c) The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) to
monitor compliance of particularly the
private cars allowed to cross the borders to
ensure total observance of the SoPs and
guidelines.
(d) Non-cargo cross-border movement, except
for licensed tourist vehicles is hereby
suspended for the next 42 days.
5. Non-agricultural activities and markets:
Efforts have been made to bring on board
different actors including Kampala Capital City
Authority (KCCA) and Ministry of Works and
Transport (MoW&T) among others. However, the
surge of crowds has not sufficiently subsided
despite the effort to enforce social distancing
and the use face masks. This might not take
away the danger of spreading COVID-19 as
envisaged.
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Directives:
(a) Food Market Venders should revert to the
Presidential Directive of March 2020 to stay
in their places of work.
(b) Kikuubo and other Business Centres should
be closed, and the situation reverts to the
Presidential Directive of March 2020.
6. Burials: Whereas the compliance on this has
been low, the high-risk factor assessed is the
pressure of people seeking permission to go and
attend burials from place to place. This poses
the highest danger of spreading the virus and
breaches of the strategy.
Directive:
(i) Burials to be restricted to the core family as
applied in the military.
(ii) The Committee I put in place during my last
address – led by Major General Rusoke and
Dr. Musenero should ensure the institution
of a well-coordinated mechanism which
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enables a few family members to transport
dead bodied for burial. RDC and DPC should
ensure that all SOPs are observed and not
more than 20 people attend burial. And
avoid gatherings and visits to the deceased
family after burials which will promote
spread of the virus.
7. Bars, Discos, Sports Betting, and Cinema
Halls: Despite the directive, the bar owners and
clients have not fully adhered.
Directive:
(a) KCCA, URA and Local Government
authorities are directed to close and seal off
all the bars. Police should accordingly
arrest and charge with hefty fines imposed
for reopening.
(b) It serves no purpose arresting the revelers
while allowing the owners to reopen the
following morning.
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8. All other sectors which are not specifically
mentioned should consider themselves
closed for the next 42 days.
9. Institutions and Organizations: Although
most offices have complied with the 30%
physical presence at the workplace, the
directive ought to be reviewed. Current
information so far obtained indicates that
despite this scale down, infection rates in this
area are very high. I have thus revised this.
Directive:
(a) Further reduction to 10% in Non-core
Ministries, Departments and Agencies
(MDAs).
(b) The Rt Hon Prime Minister working with the
Ministry of Public Service and the Ministry
of Health will re-define the Non-Core MDA
10. Factories and construction sites: Whereas
this directive is being adhered to, it remains
tricky because in some areas, workers have to
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cross different districts to reach their places of
aboard. Therefore, a well-intended plan could
yield less because of circumstances.
Directive:
Where possible, the workers MUST be housed at
places of work for the next 42 days. I encourage
factory owners to work with the Ministry of
Health to ensure only uninfected workers enter
the camps.
Where camping is not possible, the factory
owners should work together with the
Technical Committee to agree on a safe
alternative to enable factory activities to
continue safely during the lock down period.
11. Places of worship: The churches, mosques,
and sports sessions are congregating settings
and are a source that fuels rapid virus
transmission.
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Directive:
All places of worship and sports events remain
suspended for 42 days
12. The Monitoring of the compliance and
adherence to these directives:
The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), working
together with the Technical Intersectoral
Committee under Maj Gen Robert Rusoke are
directed to closely monitor the compliance and
enforcement of these directives.
Except where specifically stated, all these measures
take IMMEDIATE effect and will last 42 days when
I will make subsequent revision.
For our lives to continue, the following sectors fully
function: (a) agriculture, (b) industry,
manufacturing and tourism, (c) health and
medical services, (d) security (police and army), (e)
utilities (water, electricity, mass media, telecoms,
banking institutions, garbage/waste management,
retail shops and markets), (f) cargo transport and
goods distribution. I have thus categorized these
sectors as essential sectors.
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At this critical moment, I wish to call upon all the
leadership structures throughout the country.
Every village has community health workers known
as Village health teams (VHTs) who are in touch
with families and keep records on the health status
of the villages. For example they know how many
people are in the village, how many are pregnant,
how many children etc. These VHTs should now be
leveraged to increase population awareness,
support for SOPs and affected households.
The district based governance structures are all in
place with salaried staff and should take charge of
the situation and support awareness creation and
enforcement.
The Ministry of Local Government has undertaken
mobilization of these leaders and they are fully
aware of their roles in the COVID-19 response. All
district Covid -19 Task forces are hereby called upon
to awaken the national wide response system up to
the community level.
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Update of vaccination:
The above measures will give us a temporally relief,
however, we know that the ultimate solution to this
Covid-19 challenge is to get our people vaccinated.
To date, we have vaccinated a total of 869, 915
people, which accounts for 90.2% of the 964,000
doses received. Of these 57,797 (6.6%) have
received both 1st and second dose. Yesterday, 17th
June 2021, we received another 175,200 doses and
we are expecting additional 688,000 doses of
AstraZeneca vaccine in early August. I have directed
that these doses be prioritized to give second dose
to those who have got already got their first dose.
Government is working with Chinese embassy to
bring in 300,000 doses of vaccines (Sinovac) and
discussing modalities of acquisition of more doses
through direct purchase.
We are also in discussions with African Union on
terms of acquisition of the Johnson and Johnson
vaccines. The government will continue to explore
all ways of fast tracking the acquisition of enough
vaccines to vaccinate a critical mass of our
population to ensure the country returns to normal
operations.
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Conclusion
Finally, to all of you Countrymen and Women, these
are urgent and temporary, but extra-ordinary
measures, which we as the Nation must jointly and
fully embrace to protect and preserve our lives, our
ways of life, the way we live, and our future.
It is only through these measures that we shall in a
long run protect our economy, preserve our
democracy and sustain the NRM revolution.
Thank you.
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