Mandatory Test at Entebbe Airport had brought so many disruptions in the tourism sector, in December 2019, China announced the outbreak of a deadly virus which caused flu, illness, suddenly leading to death, this alarmed the world at large and there was a need for an immediate lockdown of the country, beginning of the year 2022, there were disturbances and most of the activities were put on hold Tourism at large was halted, tourism entities lost business following many cancelations of bookings. The government of Uganda had opened borders to international travelers to restart tourism While maintaining the covid 19 Pandemic regulating Rules put in place by the Ministry of health.
Mandatory Test at Entebbe Airport
The standard operating procedures were established based on the Gorilla trekking activity, these few last remaining species of the Mountain gorillas are found only in Uganda and the Virunga eco-region they are subject to disease since they share up to 98% of the Human DNA, despite the imposed Gorilla rules by the Uganda wildlife authority, the ones of the ministry came to protect the primates, most of the savannah conservation park areas were open for travel except primate destinations during the post covid travel era. Even at this time the tourist count is very low, slowly returning most of the entities faced closure and downsizing of the workers to meet their demand hence it is safe to state that Tourism was the most hit of the industries in Uganda
Suspension of Covid 19 Mandatory testing upon Arrival at the airport
The recovery of Tourism in Uganda may not ever be the same as before but the good news is that the government is working tirelessly to see the sector up and running, the Uganda wildlife authority has regulated and redrafted its Tariffs, the government offered grants to support the tourism sector among other benefits, upon receiving vaccinations boarder testing, safe quarantine, international flights were open to travelers arriving and departing at the Entebbe international airport, there has been a mandatory Covid 19 testing upon arrival and before departure and one had to have a negative Covid 19 (polymerase chain reaction) PCR test.
Suspension of Covid 19 Mandatory testing upon Arrival at the airport
On 16th February 2022, the ministry of health announced to the general public the dropping of the mandatory COVID 19 test on all incoming travelers upon arrival at the airport following a cabinet decision on 14 February 2022, this came as a result of reduced cases and the reduction of the new variants of concern, however, the screening at the airport for Covid 19 will continue by the health workers, it should be noted that there will be selective testing in cases where the traveler doesn’t have 72-hour covid test and shows all the signs and symptoms of the virus. He or she will be tested to confirm the status before they can proceed on their journey. This implies that the county has joined some of the states that have dropped the testing upon arrival. However, the standard operating procedures still apply, for the primate destinations endeavor to adhere to the rules and regulations from the Uganda wildlife authority.
