Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has decided to extend the Ebola lockdown in Kassanda and Mubende districts for the next 21 days, reported The Reuters. He added that his government’s response to the virus was succeeding.
Ebola outbreak, which was first declared on September 20, has spread across Uganda and even reached the capital Kampala.
On Saturday, it was announced that movement into and out of Kassanda and Mubende districts will remain restricted until Saturday, Dec. 17. The Ugandan government had first imposed the lockdown on Oct. 15 for 21 days. It was later extended for the same period on Nov. 5. The restrictions include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, closure of markets, bars and churches and a ban on personal travel.
The presidency said that the decision to extend the lockdown was taken to sustain whatever gains the government has achieved in controlling Ebola, and to protect the rest of the country from continued exposure.
“If we open now and a case appears, we will have destroyed all the gains made in this war” Museveni said in a speech to the nation.
He appealed the people of the country to remain calm and said that the health workers are doing everything they can to save lives and bring the epidemic to an end.
The Ugandan president said that the government’s anti-Ebola efforts were improving the situation with two districts now going without new cases for roughly two weeks.
“It may be too early to celebrate any successes, but overall, I have been briefed that the picture is good,” he said in a statement.
The East African nation has so far reported 141 confirmed Ebola cases and 55 people have died so far.
The Ebola virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain.
