Health Minister: Government Ready to Deal with new COVID-19 Variant

The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng has assured the public of Government’s readiness to deal with the spread of Omicron, a new COVID-19 variant if it enters the country.

In her statement presented to Parliament during Thursday plenary sitting, Aceng confirmed that the Omicron variant has not yet been detected in Uganda and that government has intensified its measures especially at the busy points of entry to ensure zero entry of the new variant which is said to be more deadly and infectious.

“Apart from our health workers being tired, the country is ready to handle this new variant if it is reported,” Aceng said.

Omicron was first identified by scientists in South Africa last week and is said to have spread significantly to reach all provinces of South Africa. The new variant has reportedly spread to at least 23 other countries including; Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola and Zambia as well as among travelers to distant countries including, Netherlands, Thailand, Israel, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Italy, Belgium and Germany.

Aceng said that government has intensified surveillance at points of entry; with particular emphasis at the high-volume entry points.

“The Government of Uganda instituted mandatory testing of all incoming travelers upon arrival on 28th October, 2021. Testing of all incoming passengers at Entebbe International Airport will continue, however Passengers will be allowed to proceed to their destination once their sample has been removed. We believe that the daily average of 6 cases is still a manageable number that our surveillance teams can easily track and follow up,” Aceng said.

The Minister assured the House that all positive samples from travelers shall undergo genomic sequencing to enable detection of the Omicron and other variants.

To-date, Government has received a total of 17,131,090 doses through donations and direct procurement by the Government of Uganda; of which 10,523,853 doses have been distributed countrywide and distribution of the remaining 6,607,237 doses is ongoing. According to Aceng, Government will receive an additional 15,563,650 doses of various vaccines by the end of December 2021.