Standard Operations Procedures for Entebbe Airport re-opening
Standard Operations Procedure for Entebbe airport re-opening: As Uganda prepares for the reopening of Entebbe International Airport on October 1st, a number of measures have been put in place in consultation with the International Civil Aviation Organization and regional airports practices of COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures. These guidelines also apply to passengers arriving or departing at land border points. According to the Civil Aviation Authority, these measures have been undertaken to control the spread of COVID-19.
Incoming Passengers
- Passenger must have had a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction COVID-19 test done within 72 hours before arrival in Uganda, and has not shown any signs and symptoms of any infectious disease before boarding.
- The Polymerase Chain Reaction test must have been done from a laboratory approved by the country where the journey is initiated.
- A passenger who shows signs and symptoms of infectious disease on arrival will be put in a waiting infectious disease ambulance and taken to an isolation centre in Entebbe Hospital where infectious disease are checked and where samples for COVID-19 tests are carried out and results will be returned within 24-48 hours.
- If a passenger test positive for COVID-19, he or she is taken to the COVID-19 treatment centre, or is repatriated for treatment in another facility outside Uganda at their own cost following COVID-19 medical evacuation protocol.
- Airlines and airport authorities will ensure that before boarding to Entebbe International Airport, a passenger must have met the above requirement.
- Ministry of Health will ensure there is an accessible COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction laboratory outside the terminal building which will be able to take samples and avail results within a short time, for exceptional circumstances.
- An infectious disease laboratory is not allowed within the vicinity of an international airport, therefore, passengers that require a Polymerase Chain Reaction COVID-19 test will have to be transported to the facility by the Ministry of Health or at their own cost escorted by security.
Outgoing Passengers
- A passenger leaving Uganda will ensure he or she has carried out a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction test and valid within 72 hours before boarding.
- Passengers with special situations that may not allow them to present a Polymerase Chain Reaction test certificate will have to ensure they have a clearance from the country they are traveling to showing they may not take a Polymerase Chain Reaction COVID-19 test and will be allowed to enter the country on arrival.
- A passenger who shows up with signs and symptoms of infectious disease as detected by Port Health staff will not be allowed to board but will be taken to an isolation facility for medical investigation and treatment.
