Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said late Sunday that his government is considering fully reopening the economy amid decline of COVID-19 cases in the east African country.
“We suffered from COVID-19 but the economy is still growing. Once we enter the last mile of our fight, we shall open the economy,” Museveni said in a televised address. Uganda has been gradually reopening several aspects of the economy as it continues its efforts to combat the virus.
The president said the country has succeeded in the fight against COVID-19 following citizens’ adherence to the government’s standard operating procedures on preventing the spread of the virus. “In the last 12 months, we have had 40,581 people infected by the virus — 15,095 have recovered and been discharged. The ones who have died are only 334. This is a big success for which we need to congratulate ourselves but also thank God,” said Museveni.
Uganda last week launched the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination campaign targeting high risk groups in the country.The country is planning to vaccinate 21.9 million people who face a high risk of infection, such as health workers, teachers, social workers and security personnel, the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions, according to the health ministry.
On March 18 last year, Uganda announced a lockdown closing all its border points and restricting internal movement in the country in efforts to prevent the possible spread of the disease.Later in that month, the country reported its first case and imposed more restrictions which affected the economy drastically, according to experts.
Business indicators since January this year are showing that as the country’s COVID-19 infection rate goes down, the economy has started a recovery trend.The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for February increased to 51.2 after a three-month consecutive fall, according to the monthly report for February issued by Stanbic Bank Uganda. The report showed the PMI in January dipped to 49.8 from 51.2 in December last year.
February’s increase is attributed to improved outlook in the global and national economies. The threshold of 50 is a baseline to indicate an increase or decline in business conditions.The report showed that business firms are confident that the outlook will remain positive for the rest of the year.
