Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has officially opened up all national parks to both local and international tourists.
The opening up follows the closure of all national parks in March this year after confirming covid-19 cases in the country.
“The Management of Uganda Wildlife Authority wishes to inform the public that after consultations with various stakeholders and putting in place standard operating procedures for the containment of the possible spread of #Covid-19 in our protected areas, all the parks are now open for tourism.” Reads in part of the statement released by UWA.
They revealed that the head office in Kampala is open to the public who require any of their services. All tourism activities within the protected areas shall be undertaken in a manner that ensures all guidelines set by the Ministry of Health and the directives by His Excellency the President are adhered to.
These include but not limited to Mandatory temperature screening using non-contact infra-red thermometers at the key tourism gates of the different protected areas, hand washing / sanitizing at the entrances of all UWA premises and protected areas.
Others are; Wearing a face mask while inside the protected area, Observing social distance and alll tourists going for primate tracking activities should carry at least two N95 masks or surgical masks or double layered cloth masks with filters and Government guidelines of carrying half capacity in order observe social distance shall apply to the use of vehicles and boats in the parks. These include concessionaire delivery vehicles.
Saloon car vehicles shall not be permitted to carry out game drives activities in the protected areas and Visitors going to the parks are encouraged to carry their own hand sanitizer.
“We have trained our staff and provided them with appropriate wear to protect them and the visitors from any possible infection. Staff on duty shall sensitize the visitors on the general government approved #Covid-19 operational guidelines including the ones developed and approved by UWA management” UWA noted
The authority noted that safety of their staff and visitors is important to them and they will continue to operate while exercising a high degree of caution to ensure the safety of persons is not compromised.
“As we welcome our visitors back into the protected areas, we continue to advise visit to take personal precaution to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.”
