An extraordinary meeting of the cabinet held on Tuesday, June 16, chaired by President Paul Kagame resolved to allow hotels to host gatherings, meetings and conferences immediately effective.
The meeting also allowed visitors traveling with chartered flights to resume domestic and international tourism.
According to the minutes of the meeting signed by Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente, cabinet instructed Rwanda Development Board to issue detailed guidance on this resolution.
Tourism activities, meetings and all kinds of public hotel gatherings have been banned since 21 March when the government imposed a total countrywide lockdown to contain Covid-19 spread.
“Hotels shall continue operations and are encouraged to participate in domestic tourism promotion and offer conference services,” the statement reads in part.
Statement on Cabinet Resolutions of 16/06/2020 pic.twitter.com/YDlu8f0QZN
— Office of the PM | Rwanda (@PrimatureRwanda) June 16, 2020
The statement stressed that all facilities offered at hotels must be delivered in accordance with health guidelines.
Bars had been kept locked however.
The tourism sector that has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the top foreign-exchange earners in the country, contributing 16 per cent to the national GDP.
Among other resolutions are religious wedding ceremonies not to exceed 30 people, the same number permitted for religious burial ceremonies.
This is the first time any religious gatherings have been allowed since the lockdown in March.
Mass gatherings, churches, sports activities and bars remain closed
Mass rallies are not allowed in public places.
Outdoor sports are permitted only to be non-contact but gyms and collective sports activities remain closed.
According to the statement, the night-time curfew was also maintained from 9 pm until 5 am.
Meanwhile, the public has been advised to continue to follow precautionary measures including routinely wearing face masks and washing hands.
Employers were also asked to keep essential workers in place of work while others were encouraged to continue to work from home.
According to the cabinet declaration, the resolutions are expected to be assessed in fifteen days after a health assessment.
Rwanda has so far confirmed 636 Covid-19 cases, 338 of them have recovered.
Meanwhile, by Tuesday, June 16, cabinet resolved to continue mass testing for covid, with 98,801 samples tested nationwide.
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