EAC member states will soon require truck drivers moving across the transnational borders in the region to test for coronavirus at their ports of exit.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni says discussions are ongoing to ensure cargo drivers get a pass from health officials before embarking on their journey.
This is because the region continues to record more coronavirus cases among truck drivers.
Most of these trucks carry goods from Mombasa, Kenya, through Uganda to South Sudan, Rwanda and the Republic of Congo.
Health officials note that truck drivers who are currently tested for the virus in Malaba and Busia in Kenya, Uganda and at Nimule, do not wait to receive their results.
They say drivers also make impromptu stops in undesignated points, against the advice of the health officials.
“Instead of testing them at the border, we want them to be tested where they are coming from by joint teams,” President Museveni stated.
President Museveni said cargo truck drivers are now the new frontline in the fight against the coronavirus in the region.
“We are in talks with His Excellency Kenyatta, His Excellency Salva Kiir, His Excellency Kagame, and His Excellency Magufuli. We shall have a common position to for these drivers,” he added.
This means truck drivers leaving the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam will be tested before exiting Kenya and Tanzania.
South Sudan confirmed 36 new coronavirus cases bringing the country’s total number to 156. Among them are 10 truck drivers.