Video of Ugandan leader announcing school closures linked to Covid-19 pandemic, not Ebola

“All schools will be closed starting next Friday,” reads text overlaid in Luganda on a TikTok video published on June 1, 2026, and shared more than 11,000 times. 

“Ebola outbreak in Uganda is on a serious note (sic),” the post’s caption reads.

Featured is a 30-second clip of Museveni speaking at what appears to be a press briefing. 

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Screenshot of the false TikTok post, taken on June 17, 2026

“The nose, the eyes and the mouth. It cannot go through an intact skin, like some of the diseases used to,” Museveni says in the clip. “It is wise that we temporarily remove these concentration points by closing all the primary and secondary schools, pre-primary as well as all the universities and tertiary institutions for one month starting with Friday.”

Ebola outbreak

Ebola is a severe and often fatal viral disease that spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Symptoms include fever, fatigue,  muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, and, in some cases, internal or external bleeding (archived here).

Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak on May 15, 2026, caused by the Bundibugyo strain and linked to cross-border transmission from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a result, on 28 May 2026, the Uganda National Task Force on Ebola Response closed the border with the DRC to all but essential traffic. The country also imposed restrictions on weekly markets and mass gatherings in high-risk districts (archived here and here).

By July 5, the country had confirmed 20 cases and two deaths, with cases concentrated in Kampala and the neighbouring district of Wakiso (archived here).

However, claims that Uganda closed schools to contain the spread of Ebola are false.

Covid-19 restrictions 

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the Museveni video and traced the footage to a national address he delivered on March 18, 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic (archived here).

Twenty seconds into the broadcast by the NTVUganda news channel, Museveni directs all pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions and universities to close from March 20, 2020, for 30 days (archived here). 

“It is wise that we temporarily remove these concentration points by closing all the Primary and Secondary schools as well as all the Universities and Tertiary Institutions for one month, starting with Friday, the 20th of March, 2020, starting at midday,” he says.

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Comparative screenshots showing the false claim (left) and the original address in 2020, taken on June 17, 2026

Notably, the graphic that rotates at the top of the false TikTok video is SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, not Ebola. Unlike the round, spike-covered coronavirus, Ebola appears as a long, worm-like filament, often curled into hooks or hoops  (archived here and here). 

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Images of SARS-CoV-2 virus (left) and the Bundibugyo virus, a strain of Ebola, under a microscope

Ugandan officials dismiss the claims

On June 1, 2026, the Ugandan government’s official public communications X account published a statement dismissing claims that schools had been closed due to the Ebola outbreak, stating that it was “business as usual”  (archived here).

“No schools have been closed. No districts are under lockdown,” reads the statement.

Deputy presidential press secretary Faruk Kirunda also dismissed (archived here) the Museveni clip on X, clarifying that it is “neither current nor related to Ebola”.  

“It’s from the COVID-19 era and should be disregarded,” he added, urging the public to “look out for relevant information from official channels of Gov't to avoid unnecessary alarm and panic (sic)”. 

Similarly, Uganda's Ministry of Education and Sports published a post on X reassuring the public that learning would continue (archived here).

“We encourage all schools to remain calm and vigilant as the country continues to monitor the Ebola situation,” reads the caption of the post, shared with an image outlining the guidelines for Ebola prevention in schools.

An AFP correspondent in Uganda confirmed on July 7, 2026, that there have been no school closures in Uganda. Schools, including those located near border areas, remain operational while observing precautionary health measures.

AFP Fact Check has previously debunked claims linked to Ebola here and here.