KAMPALA, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Uganda on Wednesday announced that it has stopped the mandatory COVID-19 testing of travelers coming into the country.

The Ministry of Health in a statement issued here said the move which takes immediate effect follows a cabinet decision on Feb. 14.

The ministry stressed in the statement, however, that the mandatory testing of 72 hours before boarding for both incoming and exiting travelers remains in effect.

The suspension is based on a decline in positive COVID-19 cases identified at the airport (the country's Entebbe International Airport), said the ministry, noting the other reason is the reduction in the global threat of new variants of concern and therefore reduced risk of importing new variants.

Uganda in October last year started mandatory COVID-19 testing for all incoming travelers in an effort to curb a further importation of the deadly Coronavirus variants into the country.

The Ministry of Health data suggested that tests done on Feb. 14 showed 63 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases out of 4,010 samples taken.

The country as of Feb. 14 had registered 162,865 positive COVID-19 cases since the country registered the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. - Xinhua