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Uganda has declared an immediate three-week lockdown in some areas as the country battles a rise in Ebola infections. The death toll has risen to 29 amid 63 recorded cases.
All movement in and out of the two high risk districts, Mubende and Kassanda, will be halted, although cargo trucks will be allowed to enter and leave the areas.
Curfews will also be imposed. Places of worship, bars, gyms, saunas and other entertainment venues will close but schools will remain open, he added.
The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, said “Given the gravity of the problem and to prevent further spread and protect lives and livelihoods, the government is taking extra measures that require action from all of us.”
The Ugandan health ministry will also increase contact tracing and assistance to local health facilities.
Ebola is a rare but deadly disease. It spreads through direct contact with body fluids and is not transmitted through airborne viral particles.
It has no cure, and there is no approved vaccine, although there is a concerted effort to create one.
According to the CDC, a person infected with Ebola “is not contagious until symptoms appear (including fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms, and unexplained bleeding).”
Uganda has experienced four Ebola outbreaks. The deadliest left more than 200 people dead in 2000.
