Uganda’s president has extended a six-week lockdown on two regions at the heart of an Ebola outbreak that has claimed 55 lives, but insisted the disease’s progress was being slowed. Since the outbreak was declared on September 20, Ebola has spread across Uganda and reached the capital, Kampala. This week, however, health officials said that the number of cases has gone down.
On October 15, President Yoweri Museveni ordered a lockdown for 21 days in Mubende and Kassanda, the two central districts where the outbreak started. On November 5, the measures were extended for another 21 days. They included a curfew from dusk to dawn, a ban on movement, and the closing of markets, clubs, and churches.
Museveni renewed the lockdown of Mubende and Kassanda for another 21 days on Saturday, saying the situation is still fragile.
“If we open now and a case appears, we will have destroyed all the gains made in this war,” Museveni said in a national address read by his deputy, Jessica Alupo.
He added “I therefore appeal for calm and understanding. Our health workers will continue to do all it takes to save lives and bring the epidemic to an end.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a disease outbreak is declared over when there are no new cases for 42 days in a row, which is twice the incubation period of Ebola.
According to Uganda’s WHO headquarters, no cases have been declared in Kampala for nine days, Mubende for ten days, and Kassanda for twelve days as of November 22.
Despite the lockdowns, the outbreak has claimed the lives of 55 people out of 141 cases, according to the country’s health ministry on Friday.
The Ebola virus spreads through bodily fluids. Fever, vomiting, bleeding, and diarrhoea are common symptoms. Outbreaks are difficult to contain, particularly in urban areas. The current strain is known as the Sudan Ebola virus, for which there is no vaccination, while several possible vaccines are in research development.