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Nakasongola, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nakasongola district COVID-19 task force has tightened control measures on cargo truck drivers making a stopover in Mijeera town council along Kampala-Gulu highway. It comes days after President Yoweri Museveni directed the mandatory testing of all cross-border truck drivers to eliminate the spread of coronavirus.
He said those who test negative will be allowed to proceed with their journey while those who test positive will be isolated. Migyera town council in Nakasongola district is a popular stopover for cargo truck drivers. They stop for food, refreshments and recreation.
Dan Muganga, the Nakasongola district COVID-19 task force chairperson says they have decided to tighten controls since one of the truck drivers tested positive for Covid-19. He says that they had directed all truck drivers to sleep in their trucks within gazetted parking yard and restrict their movements.
According to Muganga, a team of police officers led by the Nakasongola District Police Commander, Patience Namara is on standby to ensure the truck drivers adhere to the guidelines.
He says they have directed the drivers to travel with personal hand sanitisers for use whenever they make their stopover. Sam Kigula, the Nakasongola district chairperson says they have also embarked on sensitising residents to alert security officers in case any driver doesn’t comply with the guidelines.
Meanwhile, Luweero district authorities have barred the truck drivers from making any stopovers saying they don’t have the capacity to monitor their movements. The Luweero Resident District Commissioner, Phoebe Namulindwa says they expect the cargo truck drivers to pass through the district since they don’t have a gazetted place to park where they can easily be monitored.
On Thursday evening, Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng was quoted in a TV interview saying there are over 2,500 truck drivers transiting through Uganda daily. She said they had intensified efforts to test the cargo truck drivers at Uganda’s borders to stop the spread of the virus in the country.
Uganda has registered 55 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The last case was confirmed on Tuesday when a 38-year-old Ugandan cargo transporter from Tororo district who arrived from Kenya via Malaba border tested positive.
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