By Issa Aliga
The Uganda Police Force has warned those who think the remaining days of the lockdown and after are a grace period, cautioning them to prepare for the worst.
There are less than four days remaining on the original 42 days that were declared as lockdown by President Museveni.
However, the police through a statement confirmed they are not done yet and will be stepping up operations in any case.
“As you are aware, we have entered a very crucial week, where we anticipate the end of the 42-day lockdown. However, the Joint Security Agencies are into day 38 of the enforcement of the lockdown which has been highly successful. Our enforcement operations are still continuing in the remaining 4 days,” a statement from police reads in part.
In line with operations, the traffic boss Norman Musinga has spent the better part of Tuesday cracking the whip on motorists without stickers along Jinja Road.
Many without authorized stickers or those using different documents have been clamped at Banda where he has mounted a major roadblock.
The nearing of the lockdown comes with a reduction in the number of average daily COVID-19 cases.
Last week the total number of new cases since 18thJuly, decreased from 2197 cases to 1834 new cases, the number of deaths decreased from 189 to 165 cases; and the number of recoveries increased from 4901 victims to a massive 7549 victims. As of 23rd July, the number of victims hospitalized decreased from 849 to 754 victims across the country.
“This COVID-19 outlook is bringing a lot of excitement and triggering anxiety among members of the public, the majority of the people are worried as to whether the lockdown restriction will be relaxed, adjusted or maintained. Many people are looking forward to returning to activities that were restricted,” Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga said
“However, as the Joint Security Agencies, we still urge the public to remain cautious, because the pandemic is far from over, and is still here with us. The health experts have warned that until we reach a level of population immunity, where a good percentage of the public has protection against COVID-19 infection, we could still face a bigger wave than the current one,” he added.
He said that no matter the outcome of the 42-day lockdown, “the Joint Security Agencies shall either upgrade, downgrade or maintain the lockdown enforcement measures, according to the public health controls still in place.”
In the course of last week, a total of 2386 persons were arrested countrywide for flouting the lockdown and curfew provisions; 1289 were cautioned, 751 were released on bond, 56 pending, 277 persons were taken to court, a total of 766 motor vehicles were impounded, out of which 407 were issued with EPS tickets, 310 motorists were cautioned, 59 vehicles are still parked; a total of 3872 motorcycles were impounded, out of which 2859 were issued with EPS tickets. 575 riders were cautioned and 447 motorcycles are still parked.
