As cases of coronavirus continue to rise globally, faith leaders in Uganda are taking a proactive approach to help ensure the safety of believers who flock various places of worship.
Under their umbrella organisation, the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), leaders across various denominational lines pledged to work closely with the Ministry of Health to create awareness about coronavirus (COVID-19) “at all levels.”
This was revealed during a meeting on Thursday at the IRCU secretariat in Kampala, graced by the Minister of Health, Dr Aceng Jane Ruth.
The IRCU Council of Presidents, expressed gratitude to the Ministry for issuing guidelines to help prevent the spread of the virus.
They also commended the swift measures taken to minimize chances of importing the virus to communities across the country.
The faith leaders said the IRCU structures and leadership are efficient to roll out and disseminate approved information on the virus throughout the country.
“We are concerned about the magnitude of damage that COVID-19 has inflicted upon the religious lives and liturgical norms of the faithful,” the IRCU statement read, adding that in other parts of the world, Holy pilgrimages have been halted, worship practices have been suspended in the hope of strengthening the containment measures to breakdown mass spread of the virus.
The Ministry of Health urged the public to report any suspected cases of coronavirus to the nearest health facility or call toll-free lines in 0800-203-033 and 0800-100-066.
“I was happy to hear that the religious leaders have developed their guidelines on mass gatherings based on what we shared. Our strengthened partnership with them will increase awareness among communities about COVID19 and its prevention,” Dr Aceng Jane Ruth remarked on Facebook.
With no reported cases, Uganda yesterday increased travel restrictions to at least nine countries currently being affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The latest travel restriction includes travellers from Belgium, Netherlands, San Marino, Norway, Belgium, USA, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Sweden and Australia.
Reports show that on March 9, Uganda blocked 22 European delegates who had travelled to take in Uganda-EU Business Forum from entering the country after they refused to self-isolate themselves.
According to the Observer Newspaper, so far, 1,623 travellers have been followed by the ministry and asked for self-quarantine since COVID 19 was declared in China in December 2019. Of these 1,071 are Chinese, 244 are Ugandans, 443 are Italians and 34 are from South Korea.
Worldwide, over 118,000 infections have been reported with over 4,000 deaths. In Africa, 11 countries have reported cases. These include; Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Algeria, Tunisia, , Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, Burkina Faso and DR Congo.
