Uganda announces end of lockdown

Ugandan authorities announced on Saturday the end of a two-month lockdown in two districts at the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak.

Speaking on television, vice president Jessica Alupo said that enough progress had been made to justify the decision.

The government official stressed that the authorities remained on "high alert" for a possible resurgence.

The two districts in question, Mubende and Kassanda, were confined by President Yoweri Museveni on October 15th. 

Since September 20th, the East African country has recorded 142 confirmed cases and 56 deaths, with the epidemic even reaching the capital, Kampala.

In November, local officials called for the lifting of the lockdown and for the government to provide assistance.

The first doses of one of the Ebola vaccine candidates arrived in Uganda in early December.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers that the country has "begun the countdown" to the end of the epidemic.