Rwanda has, on January 7, reduced quarantine days for all arriving travelers from three days to one day, according to a statement issued by the office of the Prime Minister on Covid-19 health measures. The new guidelines will be effective starting Monday January 10. The statement indicates that incoming travelers will be required to quarantine for 24 hours at designated hotels at their own cost after taking a Covid-19 PCR test upon arrival. An additional mandatory Covid-19 PCR test will be required on the third day from a designated testing site. Among other updated measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, passengers traveling by buses, motorcycles, and bicycles should be fully vaccinated, and penalties will be applied on operators for non-compliance. Public offices will continue to work with not more than 15 per cent of essential works while private offices will work at 30 per cent of essential workers. This is while the Ministry of Health may temporarily close public or private premises with an identified number of infected people. The statement also notes that bars and restaurants will continue to operate at 50 per cent occupancy limit but restaurants with outdoor seating services will operate at 75 per cent of venue capacity. Wedding-related receptions are prohibited while traditional, civil, and religious weddings will not exceed 40 people and ceremonies conducted in homes should not exceed 20 people with a seven-day prior notice to local authorities. Physical conferences and meetings are allowed to continue at 50 per cent occupancy, with all participants fully vaccinated and a negative covid-19 test that was taken within 24 hours prior to the meeting. Attendance at the vigil will continue to be limited to 20 people at a time while funeral events will not exceed 50 people. All attendees will be required to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 24 hours, it added. These guidelines come at a time when the current statistics from the Ministry of Health on the country’s Covid-19 situation show that 1,219 people are infected with the virus as of January 6. As of the same date, at least 7,745,536 people have received their first dose and are 5,581,750 people are fully vaccinated and 273,515 people have received the booster shot.
