Coronavirus: Museveni says Ugandans in China shouldn’t be evacuated

Kampala, Uganda  | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said that Ugandans living in China shouldn’t be evacuated because of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus that is ravaging the city of Wuhan in China’s central Hubei Province.

According to the latest figures, the deadly virus has killed 491 people with 24,363 others confirmed as having contracted the virus.

Speaking at the State House Entebbe where he received a brief about the outbreak from Chinese ambassador to Uganda Zheng Zhu Qiang, Museveni said that the government of China has already put in place mechanisms to contain and prevent the transmission of the disease, hence Ugandans are safer there.

Museveni had made the same directive after a meeting with Ugandan officials led by the Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda about Uganda’s preparedness to tackle the virus.

The president said there should be an aggressive campaign to educate people about the dangers of the virus and what should be done to prevent it. “I now understand this disease. I’m going to write about it so that the public is sensitized on how to prevent it,” said Museveni.

President .@KagutaMuseveni undergoing screening at #Entebbe airport on arrival from #Luanda, #Angola.

.@UgandaCAA .@JaneRuth_Aceng .@MinofHealthUG pic.twitter.com/db6RUilRI5

— State House Uganda (@StateHouseUg) February 3, 2020

Countries like the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom among others have in past sent aircrafts to China to evacuate some of their citizens in order to get proper management at home. China has also placed a total lockdown on Wuhan city preventing anyone from leaving or entering in order to control the spread of the virus.

Ambassador ZhuQiang told Museveni that his government is doing everything possible to contain the virus. He said they are also planning to build a record 1,000-bed Huoshenshan medical facility in the city of Wuhan to secure the safety of the people.

The Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the strong measures taken by China at the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak have prevented the significant spread abroad and called for greater solidarity of the world.

According to reports, 99 percent of the cases are in China, and 97 per cent of the deaths are in Hubei Province where it started.

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