At the start of last week, President Museveni issued a Presidential directive asking all Ugandans to stay home, halting nearly all public activities in a bid to contain the deadly Coronavirus whose numbers have since grown to 48 in the country.
With masses at home, idle and observing the lockdown and too much time on their hands, many took to taking strolls and jogging to keep fit.
However, this healthy practice, according to Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng goes against the standard COVID-19 safety practice of ‘social distancing’.
Last evening, pictures of hordes of people doing exercises on the Northern Bypass oblivious of the dangers of close-body mixing surfaced on social media.
To deter numbers from surging, the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Diana Atwine has since asked security to intervene to ensure that people observe the 4-meter social distancing rule as recommended.
“We have taken note of this increased number of people jogging and mixing. While we welcome the practice of keeping people healthy we advise that we must avoid crowds. Social distancing must apply at all times. Security needs to intervene,” Ms Atwine posted on her Twitter page.
Dr Ruth Aceng weighed in on Atwine’s concerns and also tweeted: “Dear friends and fellow Ugandans, thank you so much for staying at home and staying safe. I notice people are taking advantage of the stay at home to do physical exercise, keep fit & fight NCDs. I salute you for that. However, keep a distance of at least 4 meters from your team members
And do not go out in large numbers or crowds. Do not be more than 5 people.
God bless. Stay home, Stay safe.”