On the 16th of February 2022, Uganda dropped the mandatory requirement for COVID-19 testing at it’s main entry point in Entebbe. This announcement followed a cabinet decision that noted that few new cases were being recorded at the airport and that the threat of New Coronavirus variants and community transmission had reduced.
Uganda has however, maintained the requirement for travellers to be tested 72 hours before arrival or departure from the airport. Dr Mwebesa Henry, the director of health services at the ministry of Health said,”Our health workers will continue to screen all travellers both at arrival and departure and verify their COVID-19 test certificates.”
The statement from the Ministry of Health
The government imposed these restrictions in September last year following the detection of more variants of Omicron imported from neighboring countries in travellers who arrived via airport.
Previously, arrivals were only required to show a valid negative PCR certificate obtained from an accredited lab in their countries of origin.
Note; Travellers paid $30 for the negative PCR result certificate from their departure points. This measure brought businesses to a standstill at Malaba and Busia along the Kenya border with Uganda as truck drivers protested the mandatory tests and costs. The strike led to a fuel shortage in the Landlocked country (Uganda) forcing the government to cut the test Costs to $25 and eventually suspended testing for truck drivers only.
