The government has put Nkombo island back in total lockdown to prevent COVID-19 from spreading further.
The island located in Lake Kivu, about 12 kilometers from the town of Kamembe, the district of Rusizi in the Western Province joins the sectors of Kamembe, Nyakarenzo, Mururu, and Gihundwe which were reintroduced in the lockdown on June 4.
“Today we imposed a lockdown on Nkombo Island to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We remind all citizens to obey new coronavirus preventive measures.”Prof. Anastase Shyaka, Minister of local government wrote on Twitter on Friday.
The decision to put the area bordering with the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) was put back into total lockdown after more cases were reported in the area, while the rest of the country was reporting no more spread of the virus.
With this reason, since June 3, interprovincial public transport and moto-taxi transport have been allowed in other parts of the country, but Kamembe and Rusizi have been isolated.
Ephraim Kayumba, District Mayor of Rusizi said; “Most of the inhabitants of Nkombo Island are fishermen. They are currently advised to stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus on the island.”
Kayumba further said; “Their daily activity is fishing on Lake Kivu that we share with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There is a high possibility for islanders to meet Congolese for the transaction.” Kayumba said.
The island of Nkombo is 11 kilometers from Kamembe city, and about 600 meters from Kivu lakeshores. The beautiful island, one of the 18 sectors that make up the district of Rusizi, occupies an area of 21 square kilometers and is populated by more than 17,000 people.
The government is gradually easing the lockdown in several parts of the country, but citizens who disregard the COVID-19 instructions have forced the government to put part of the district of Rusizi, Western Province back into total lockdown.
18 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Rwanda on Thursday 11 June 2020, pushing the total cases to 494, and 179 active cases.
So far there have been 313 patients recovered.
