A cross section of Ugandans has expressed relief at the government’s decision to suspend the mandatory COVID-19 testing of all incoming travellers at Entebbe International Airport upon arrival.
On Wednesday, February 16, 2022, the Ministry of Health said the decision, which was taken by Cabinet on Monday, February 14, was informed by the decline in positive cases identified at the airport and reduction in global threat of new variants of concern (VoC) and, therefore, reduced risk of importation of VoC that will increase community transmission.
News of the end to mandatory Covid-19 testing is a financial and time relief to travellers who have been paying anywhere between Shs150,000 to $60 (Shs210,000) for single PCR test before catching an outbound or incoming flight.
Some of the testing at Entebbe International Airport was preconditioned by passengers’ destination countries.
The latest shift to the testing policy regime means Uganda is joining a growing number of countries, including France, India, and Denmark, that have dropped the pre-arrival PCR result condition for fully-vaccinated passengers or fully-jabbed passengers.
Since the government reopened international borders including Entebbe airport in October 2020, out-bound passengers were required to undergo mandatory pre-departure PCR tests, which increased the cost of travel, added to layover time and enriched selected firms doing the tests.
In addition, arriving passengers required to pay $60 or more for PCR tests, with delayed results leading to crowding and anger at Entebbe International Airport and negative publicity online about Uganda’s handing of guests, particularly tourists.
A government decision to implement mandatory testing at Busia and Malaba led to strike by truckers from Kenya, paralysing imports inflow and a marked rise in fuel prices.
However, the requirement for COVID-19 testing 72 hours before boarding for both incoming and exiting travellers remains in effect. Our health workers will continue to screen all travellers both at arrival and departure and verify their COVID-19 test certificates.