During the presidential Nation address on COVID-19 yesterday, Mr Museveni allowd places of worship to resume operation with no more than 200 attendees.
“Places of worship can now open under strict guidelines like; limiting the number to 200 people and adhering to all other SOPs in place,” he said.
The president also allowed for the increase in the number of people attending weddings and other social events to 200, while casinos, gaming, betting shops, and gyms were allowed to operate during the day and close by 6pm. weekly and monthly markets to open with strict adherence to SOPs
On learning institutions, president said that Post-secondary institutions to open with effect from November 1, 2021 but on the condition that all teachers and non-teaching staff are vaccinated whereas others will resume 2022
‘‘The 4.8 million priority population including teachers should first get vaccinated before we can open schools.” President said.
As of yesterday 22rd/09/2021, out of the targeted 550,000 teachers, 269,945 have already received the 1st dose of vaccination while 96,653 have received the second dose according to president Museveni.
However, former FDC president Dr. Kizza Besigye has critised this move of opening churches and other gathering and leave out schools.
Besigye wandered how children will go to churches and sports betting without endangering their parents and grandparents/ grandparents but becomes dangerous as they go to school.
“Our children may go to markets, places of worship, & sports betting without endangering their parents & grandparents with Covid19; however, it’s dangerous to go to school!! “, Besigye reacted on his tweet page.
“It’s really time to end this NONSENSE”, he added.
It should be noted that this is not Besigye’s first time to react about prolonged closure of schools in Uganda.
In August, Dr Besigye criticized government’s continued closure of schools, as our East African neighbours reopened, insisting that Uganda should follow suit because the “infection in children is minimal.”
“For Uganda to shut our schools for over a year is the most heinous crime. There is no justification for the measures that have been taken against schools. We’ve known children are least affected by Covid-19. Why should you shut down schools for knowledge acquisition because of Covid?” Dr Besigye said.
During the International Youth Day, president insisted as it was yesterday that the government knew what it was doing by keeping schools closed and that it needs no advice from anyone.
“The other day I heard my friend Dr Besigye talking about the opening of schools; that schools should open; that these people don’t have a plan. He was saying the government doesn’t have a plan; that if we had immunised teachers, schools could open…. Okay; thank you very much Dr Besigye, but you have not been through the problem properly,” Mr Museveni said.
By close of July 2021, the UN children’s fund, Unicef, was also calling for reopening of schools closed due to covid-19.
According to experts, these vaccination targets cannot be attained soon in Uganda yet the children are wasting away.