Rwanda confirms six cases of Omicron variant

A man receives a vaccine against the coronavirus disease at the Masaka hospital in Kigali, Rwanda. [Reuters]

Rwanda has confirmed six cases of the Omicron variant, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday.

The country’s Health Minister Daniel Ngamije, in a statement, said the variant was discovered through genomic sequencing of samples collected from travelers and those they came into contact with.

“This variant of Covid-19 has been shown to spread rapidly and the new preventive measures announced by Cabinet are intended to contain the spread,” Ngamije said.

Rwanda’s Cabinet has also suspended night club operations and live band entertainment.

The East African country had on November 28 temporarily suspended direct flights between Rwanda and Southern Africa, over concerns of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“All arriving passengers must quarantine for 24 hours at a designated hotel at their own cost,” the office of the Prime Minister said.

Rwanda has over 101,000 confirmed Covid-19 infections and 1,344 deaths since the onset of the disease in March last year