Rwanda re-imposes Covid-19 lockdown in capital Kigali

Rwanda on Monday re-imposed a 15-day lockdown in the capital Kigali, as part of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

This came following a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame (pictured) to assess the country’s Covid-19 status.

The measures have been taken following a trend of new cases of the virus in the capital Kigali.

The country has so far registered a total of 11,032 cases, with 142 deaths and 7,363recoveries, according to data compiled by Worldmeter.

During the lockdown period, both private and public employees based in the city have been asked to work from home, while travelling between Kigali and other provinces and districts has been banned.

The government also banned public transport within the city with the exception of transportation of food and essential goods.

All learning institutions have also been closed with only remote learning allowed.

All restaurants and cafes will only be allowed to offer takeaway services.

The government, however, left its main airport, Kigali International open with arriving passengers required to present a negative PCR taken 120 hours before their departure, with those departing also required to provide the report.

Other provinces

In other parts of the country, the government has put in place dusk to dawn curfew that will begin from 6pm and ends at 4am.

Learning will also continue in schools in other parts of the country in strict compliance with the Covid-19 containment measures.

However, the government banned all public gatherings including wedding and churches and conferences.

For funeral services and vigils, only 15 and 10 people respectively will be allowed.

Rwanda became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to order a total shutdown because of the coronavirus.

Rwanda took the measure on March 21, 2020, after it confirmed 17 cases of the Covid-19 virus.

The measures were easied in June 2020 before being reviewed after new cases continued to rise.