By Rogers Wanambwa 

KIU, Main Campus câ¬â?? President Yoweri Museveni last night made clarifications about the new measures he had issued on Monday, May 18 in the 14th televised Presidential address on COVID-19.

The president had issued a set of  guidelines which generated confusion among the public and he decided to address the nation again last night May 19 to make clarifications about the measures, and he decided as follows;

 1. Shops selling general merchandize will open on May 26 provided they are not in the shopping malls, shopping arcades and food markets. Markets selling only food items will remain open and traders who have been sleeping in markets will be allowed to go home if they want to.

2. Public transport will be allowed to resume on June 4 but with strict regulations. Mini-buses, buses, taxis, can operate provided they carry only a half of their normal capacity. Public transport won't operate in border districts for another 21 days. 

Private transport can resume on May 26, as long as the cars carry three passengers including the driver, and wear the right face masks.

3. Boda Bodas and tuk-tuks won't carry passengers yet. They should continue to carry cargo as they have been doing during the time of the lock-down. 

4. Bars, night-clubs, gyms, saunas, swimming pools and hair-salons, will stay closed for another 21 days since they cannot easily observe the rules of social distancing. 

5. The International borders of Uganda and the airport will remain closed so that we do not import additional cases from outside. 

 6. Education institutions can open but only for finalists/candidate classes. Additional information from the Education Ministry on how to proceed with this measure will be communicated in two weeks time. There will be no first-term examinations. Social distancing is a must. Other learners will wait for now.  

7. Curfew from 19:00hours (Saa moja ya usiku) until 06:30 hours (Saa kuminambiri na nusu za usiku), remains in place for another 21 days. 

8. Food restaurants can open as long as the clients observe social-distancing and there is no air-conditioning which spreads the virus.

9. It is now mandatory for everyone to wear a face mask while in public. The government will, however, give free masks for all Ugandans above the age of 6 and the masks will be ready by June 4.  

10. All the other restrictions will remain in place for 21 days.