Five days after Rwanda eases lockdown, two of 1,300 COVID-19 tests return positive
Friday, May 08, 2020

The Ministry of Health has announced that out of 1,300 samples collected over the past 24 hours, just two of them tested positive, five days after government unlocked the country.

Government on Monday 4 eased the lockdown that had been in place for a month and half by opening up almost all sectors of the economy but with a number of precautionary measures to keep the virus in check.

According to a status update on the virus from the ministry, the two cases brought up the total number to 273.

The update also indicated that in the past 24 hours, three people had fully recovered from the virus and had been discharged from the treatment facility, which brought the number of recoveries to 136.

As the country continues to enforce restrictions on movement in a bid to halt the spread of the virus, Rwandan citizens are urged to put on masks in public and multifamily compounds, observe one-meter distance every time and wash their hands regularly.

Certain activities considered high risk for the spread of the virus like religious congregations, mass sports activities, schools among others remain closed as a measure to curtail the virus from further spreading.

Appearing on Rwanda Television on Friday evening, the Minister of Health Dr. Daniel Ngamije said that Rwanda had yet to register any community infection of Covid-19.

The Covid-19 disease, which was first reported in Wuhan, China in December, has killed at least 274,132 people worldwide with nearly four million infections.

Some 1,372,291 people have recovered globally, according to Worldometer's count on Friday, May 8.