President Museveni while addressing the nation on Tuesday Night said that schools will remain closed until September but did not declare a dead year.
The president said he cannot declare a dead year because the scientists may develop the coronavirus vaccine sooner.
“With schools, a decision will be made before September because that’s when the third term is supposed to start,” he said.
“I do not want to declare a dead-year yet because a lot of scientists are working on the vaccine and it may come sooner than later. Let us give it a month and focus on distance learning,” Museveni said.
He also added that they are going to launch a big long-distance education programme, certainly through radios and also give out free radio-sets to all homesteads.
On 18 March the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered for the closure of all schools, institutions and universities as a measure to contain the potential spread of coronavirus.
However, during his address on Tuesday, he also allowed saloons, arcades and Boda Bodas to resume their business as long as they followed the provided guidelines.
Boda Bodas were to start carrying passengers on July 27 provided they adhere to strict guidelines put in place by the government to combat the spread of the virus.
They will be required to record the details of every customer they carry and riders will also be required to have temperature guns to measure the temperatures of their customers.
Boda Bodas and tuk-tuks have for the past four or so months not been carrying passengers but relegated to carrying only luggage and foodstuffs as directed by the government.
Saloons, on the other hand, are to resume as well as observing strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) like temperature measurement, social distancing and hand washing. The operators and clients are all required to put on protective gear.
He said, “We're going to open the salons provided they provide face shields for their staff, check the temperature of clients, observe social distancing, no air conditioning and partitioning of parts of the salon in the cities, plus handwashing,”
Kampala city having over 230 shopping arcades, out of 170 arcades that were inspected, only 110 were found to be compliant with the operating procedures.
Some of the key requirements include temperature guns, social distancing, Hand washing, No traders or other people in the corridors, No traders on the verandahs and on the steps of the roadside.
The President has also announced that they must keep records of everybody who buy from there, that is in case the seller falls sick, the president said it will be easier to follow up on the people who shopped from their business unit.
However, the President applauded Ugandans especially the health workers on the frontline for battling with the novel coronavirus.
Uganda has since March registered 1,072 cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) with no deaths.
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