The Ministry of Health in Uganda has confirmed eight new cases of COVID-19 moments after President Yoweri Museveni had announced a partial lifting of the lockdown.
In a Tweet, the Ministry of Health said: “Today, May 4, 2020, eight new COVID-19 cases confirmed. Six out of 2,061 samples of truck drivers while two cases are from the community confirmed from the Rapid Assessment Survey.”
According to the ministry, five truck drivers arrived from Kenya through Malaba border post while another arrived from Tanzania via Mutukula border point.
The two other patients, the ministry said, were “a resident of Kyotera district while the other is a Ugandan truck driver from Mutukula”.
READ MORE: President Museveni Relaxes Covid-19 Lockdown: Here are the 13 Key Policy Directives
Meanwhile, President Museveni on Monday night listed thirteen key policy directives as he announced a restricted opening up of Uganda’s economy which was placed under lockdown in order to fight the spread of coronavirus since early March.
The partial opening up will see some sectors of the economy continue to operate while others have also been given a green light to start operations with Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs).
Some of the SoPs include observing social distancing guidelines and wearing of facemasks while in public.
Justifying the partial opening up, the president said that the virus has been studied for some time and the country's health workers can deal with it.
“You can't fail to sleep for fear of dreaming a bad dream. We shall start slowly to open up but without undoing our previous achievements,” Mr Museveni said.