Three of Rwanda’s new 17 coronavirus cases from Kenya

French rescue team carry a patient on a stretcher from Mulhouse hospital before being loaded into a helicopter as France faces an aggressive progression of the coronavirus, March 23, 2020. [Reuters]

Rwanda on Monday confirmed 17 new Covid-19 cases to take its infection tally to 36 as the country imposed Africa’s first lockdown to cage the virus spread.

The Health Ministry said three of the new cases were of travellers from Kenya. Nine were from Dubai, UAE, two from the United States, one from Qatar and another from India.

The 17^th patient, the authorities said, was a contact of a previously confirmed case who had been identified through tracing.

Rwanda said the individuals entered isolation between March 17 and March 20 "in designated locations and were tested".

This means they arrived in the country during that period.

"All patients are under treatment in stable condition, isolated from other patients," the health ministry said, adding that it was tracing everyone who had come in contact with the 17.

When we contacted the Rwandan High Commission in Nairobi in regards to the three patients from Kenya, all our calls were unanswered.

We wanted to inquire on the nationalities of the three travellers and more details, if any, on them.

Similar attempts to get answers from the Office of Government Spokesman were also futile. Spokesman Cyrus Oguna did not answer our call or respond to our message as at the time of publishing this story.

Kenya so far has confirmed 16 coronavirus cases after a patient tested positive yesterday.

Lockdown

Rwanda confirmed its first coronavirus case on March 14, an Indian who arrived in the country from Mumbai on March 8.

Thirteen days later on Saturday, March 21, it declared a countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of the highly-contagious virus.

The country closed its borders completely, except for goods and cargo and returning citizens – who have to quarantine for two weeks.

This is as unnecessary travel between cities and districts were banned for two weeks with the exemption to cases where people went for essential services such as health care and shopping.

Observing the global trend of the COVID-19 & considering the experiences of other countries, there is a clear need for additional steps to ensure that COVID-19 does not spread further in Rwanda. The following measures will be in force beginning at 23:59 on 21/03/2020 for 2 weeks pic.twitter.com/vCd8hKwGAD — Office of the PM | Rwanda (@PrimatureRwanda) March 21, 2020

Those who are employed both in the private and public sector are to work from home," except for those providing essential services".

The orders extend to bars, shops and markets which have been closed, restaurants and cafes that have been limited to takeaway services and public services vehicles which have been barred from carrying passengers.

According to Prime Minister Dr Ngirente Edouard, local government institutions and security organs were tasked with ensuring compliance with the directives.