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Africa Business News for Thursday, October 1, 2020
Source: bbc.com
2020-10-01
The national carrier Uganda Airlines has resumed regional flights (Getty Images)
Uganda has reopened its international borders for the first time since March when they were closed as a control measure against the coronavirus pandemic.
The East African country closed its borders to passenger travel even before registering its first case of CCOVID-19, but continued to allow both land and air cargo.
The national carrier, Uganda Airlines, made its regional flights to Nairobi, Kenya and Mogadishu, Somalia on Thursday morning, as scheduled.
Other international airlines have also been landing and taking off.
The civil aviation authority has advised departing travelers to be at the airport at least four hours prior to scheduled departure.
Immigration officials at the airport are encouraging passengers to use self-service booths where available to minimize contact.
Passengers entering Uganda will be required to submit a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours of their departure.
Those who present a negative test will not be required to isolate themselves.
But if someone arrives without a test certificate, a sample will be taken and they will be quarantined at their own expense while they await the results.
The country saw an increase in coronavirus cases in September, averaging around 1,000 new cases per week. The total number of cases exceeds 8,000.
Although the government has been working to increase the number of beds and the capacity of isolation centers across the country, health workers who have spoken to the BBC fear that resources will run out if cases continue to rise.
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