The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Another batch of 300 Ugandans have returned from United Arab Emirates (UAE), a month after the first group of 270 arrived in the country.
The Ugandans were stranded in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umar Quwain and other states following the closure of Uganda’s borders and Entebbe International Airport on March 23rd, 2020 to combat the spread of corona virus- Covid-19 pandemic.
The returnees are part of 1500 including government officials, students, and business people, medical doctors and others who had traveled to the United Arab Emirates for various reasons. The embassy is arranging more flights for 1,000 people who are still stuck in the UAE.
The latest batch arrived aboard Emirates Airlines, which torched down at Entebbe International Airport after 5pm on Friday and were taken into institutional quarantine after being screened. The group will join the 837 returnees who are still undergoing institutional quarantine.
Of these, 700 are at the four public facilities at the Lands and Survey, Fisheries Institute, Mulago Paramedical School and Mandela National Stadium, Namboole. The rest are in 34 private hotels, which are categorized into three classes, the low cost, medium and high cost.
The cheapest hotel, Durban Motel in Najjanankumbi is charging Shillings 120,000 for full board services per day while the high cost hotels are charging above Shillings 250,000 per day. The latest group brings the total number of returnees to 1,943 ever since June 22nd when government started receiving Ugandans and legal residents who were stranded in over 66 countries across the world.
Another 1,384 returnees are expected to arrive between August 10th- 25th from 9 locations including, UAE, Middle East, Southern Africa and Russia among others.
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