Rwanda records rise in new Covid-19 cases
Saturday June 13 2020
An officer walks between people standing in white circles to adhere to social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus as they wait for a bus at Nyabugogo bus station in Kigali, Rwanda, on May 4, 2020. PHOTO | SIMON WOHLFAHRT | AFP
Rwanda on Thursday recorded 18 new coronavirus cases, the highest of the week, contributed mainly by citizens arriving from neighbouring countries.
“The new cases are the Rusizi District cluster and repatriated Rwandans. They have been traced and isolated,” The Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.
The country has seen a rise in the number of positive cases since the beginning of June and has placed two border districts – Rusizi and Rubavu bordering the DRC – under total lockdown even as the rest of the country slowly eases back to normal life.
Rwanda has been receiving its citizens stranded in other countries, and all returnees go through a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Coronavirus was detected among clusters of Rwandans repatriated from Tanzania and DR Congo, which led to the surge in the identified cases, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Director of Rwanda Biomedical Centre, told The East African.
No positive cases were reported from another group of 53 Rwandans repatriated from the United Arab Emirates in late April, most of who have been left quarantine and joined their families.
A group of 130 Rwandans coming from Uganda last week are also under quarantine, but no positive cases have been reported among them.
Rwanda also began mass testing of its peacekeepers in South Sudan, where it has 560 police officers under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
This was after a peacekeeper evacuated for further treatment, succumbed to the virus in Kigali.
By Thursday, the country had conducted more than 84,000 Covid-19 tests. It had also recorded 494 confirmed positive cases, 313 recoveries and two deaths.