DOUBLE MISERY?

How will Ebola outbreak affect Uganda’s struggling economy?

By Musinguzi Blanshe

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Posted on October 12, 2022 15:28

Uganda Ebola Outbreak
People walk inside the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital, in Mubende, Uganda Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

As tourism businesses raise alarm, economists remain cautiously optimistic that if the Ebola outbreak doesn’t last long, it will not have dire effects on Uganda’s economy, which like many across the continent, has incurred shocks from the Ukraine war, and is yet to recover from the Covid-19.

The world is starting to react to the outbreak by adopting extra measures, such as screening for travellers from Uganda. First reported on 20 September in Mubende district, 100 kilometres from the capital city Kampala, the Ebola virus has since spread to five districts. There are 43 confirmed cases and nine deaths as per latest government statistics.

The US government was the first to announce measures targeting travellers from Uganda. The Joe-Biden administration announced that effective 7 October, travellers who have been to Uganda within 21 days of their trip to the US will be directed to five American airports for Ebola virus screening and there will be a follow-up on them three weeks after that.

READ MORE Uganda: Why is the middle class shrinking despite its economic growth?

Uganda has tried to assuage fears with a statement from the ministry of health, which says: “The current Ebola outbreak is under control and anybody with […] plan[s] to travel to Uganda

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