Ethiopian Airlines has announced a ban on flights to 30 countries shortly after one of its passengers tested positive for COVID 19 and turned out to be Uganda’s first case.

36 year old male Uganda tested positive on Saturday morning after arriving aboard the airline from Dubai.

The development was late confirmed by Uganda’s Ministry of Health before the airline moved to ban the flights.

“The confirmed case is a 36 year old Uganda n male who arrived from Dubai at 2:00am aboard Ethiopian Airlines,” said Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng.

The victim was evacuated to Entebbe Grade B where he is being closely monitored.

The Ministry has since withheld the passports of all the travelers that came on the same plane and are all under isolation where they are being monitored.

"We would like to inform our esteemed customers that we have stopped flights to 30 countries due to COVID19 virus." the Airline tweeted on Saturday.

The victim has since been identified as a resident of Kibuli, Kagungulu zone in Kampala who had traveled to Dubai four days ago for business purposes.