Uganda government has suspended mandatory COVID-19 testing on arrival at entry ports, in line with East African Community (EAC) member states.
Individuals transiting through Entebbe International Airport, Uganda’s major international airport and all ports of entry in line with the position taken by the East Africa Community are no longer required to be tested.
This follows a cabinet decision made on Monday, February 14, 2022.
To this end, a press statement signed off by the Director of General Health Services, Ministry of Health, Dr. Henry G. Mwebesa, reads in part that the mandatory COVID-19 testing of all incoming travelers at Entebbe international airport upon arrival has been stopped with effect from February 16, 2022.
The suspension of mandatory testing is due to the decline in positive cases identified at the airport and the reduction in the global threat of new variants of concern. The reduced risk of importation of variants of concern decreases the possibility of community transmission.
However, the requirement for COVID-19 testing 72 hours before boarding for both incoming and exiting travelers remains in effect.
Health workers at Entebbe International Airport will continue to screen all travelers both at arrival and departure and verify COVID-19 test certificates.
This was reiterated by 2 Ministers including the Minister of Works and Transport (MOWT), General Katumba Wamala, and the Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng.
While meeting with members of the Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), General Katumba said:
“The government has decided that there will be no more testing at the airport; it will be selective. For instance, if a traveler doesn’t have a 72-hour [COVID test] result and has symptoms, then they will be picked to be tested, but testing every passenger that is coming in, it isn’t going to happen.”
The Health Minister, Dr. J. Aceng, said mandatory testing for travelers will end at all entry ports. However, he clarified:
“As the Ministry of Health, we remain on alert for any eventuality. However, the 72-hour test [result validity] for travelers before boarding or exiting remains [in place].”
“Therefore, screening at the airport for incoming travelers and outgoing travelers will continue, and our health workers will continue to screen the COVID-19 test certificates.”
Following concerns by tour operators in Uganda that travelers who had already paid for testing online should be refunded, the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) Board has since brought it to the attention of PostBank Uganda who has been receiving online payments.
According to the Vice Chair of Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO), the has yet to respond.
In June 2021, the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) issued a directive that all visa applications must be made and paid for online and not on arrival in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
With the suspension of testing, it is only logical that a similar directive should be issued rescinding the directive in tandem.
The Directorate, however, never refunded travelers who had paid for visas at the start of the pandemic in 2020 even after Uganda tour operators had raised the issue during a consultative zoom meeting with stakeholders following the online visa application directive.
COVID updates as of February 14, 2022, stand at 162,865 cumulative cases; 99,727 cumulative recoveries; 3577 deaths; and 15,610,547 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered.
The Republic of Uganda reopened its borders and airports for international visitors on 01 October 2021.
Since 01 October of this year, international airlines including Ethiopian, Emirates Airlines, Turkish, Rwanda Air, Qatar, Brussels Airlines, and Kenya Airways, as well as Royal Dutch (KLM) and Fly Dubai had resumed flights to Entebbe.
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