The district of Rusizi in the western province and Rusumo, the district of Kirehe in the eastern province bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania respectively remained the most affected by COVID-19 while the rest of the country envisages a return to normalcy.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health carried out 2110 tests and among them, 13 positive COVID-19 cases were confirmed, all originating from Rusizi and Rusumo.
Rusumo initially started to become a concern since May due to figures of cross-border truck drivers traveling from neighboring countries who did not take drastic decisions as soon as first cases were reported.
There are ten days since Rusizi also became a new concern; after five cases that were identified in the district bordering with DRC on May 31, numbers kept increasing in the region, which forced the government to put the region back into total lockdown.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 476 with the two regions still affected.
307 recovered cases including 7 on Wednesday and 167 active cases.
With numbers moving to Rusizi and Rusumo, the Ministry of Health announced that a large proportion of front-line employees were transferred to the two areas, with a COVID-19 center in Gihundwe-Rusizi and Kirehe district Rusumo respectively.
This facilitates case management.
Two deaths have been reported in Rwanda so far since 14 March, when the first COVID-19 case was confirmed. They involve a 65-year cross-border truck driver and a 24-year-old policewoman who contracted the virus while in Malakal, South Sudan, on a peacekeeping mission.
UNPolice Peacekeeping mission head in Malakal sent their condolences to Rwanda and the policewoman ‘s parents, Police Constable Mbabazi Enid.
