The cabinet meeting that convened on Friday July 30 resolved to lift the 15- day lockdown on Kigali city and eight other districts effective August 1. Those districts are Gasabo, Kicukiro, Nyarugenge, Gicumbi, Musanze, Rubavu, Burera, Kamonyii, Rutsiro, Rwamagana and Nyagatare. According to the communique issued by the Prime Minister’s office, inter-district movement shall also resume with an exception of fifty sectors under a localized lockdown. The curfew was also brought to 6PM: “Movements will be prohibited between 6PM to 4AM as business close at 5PM and all social gatherings are prohibited,” reads the statement in part. Among other measures, public transport and private businesses will operate at 50% capacity while private and public offices operate at 15% capacity. Meetings and conferences should not exceed 30% of the venue capacity and attendants should present a negative Covid-19 test, as per the new restrictions. All bars, gyms, recreational centers and places worship will remain closed as restaurants and cafes provide take away services only, according to the communique. Attendance of a wake or vigil should not exceed 10 persons just like civil and religious weddings, but for the latter, the attendants must have a negative Covid-19 test. The statement concluded that arriving and departing passengers must present a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure as domestic and international tourism activities will resume operations with a strict adherence to Covid-19 preventive measures. Currently, fifty sectors in the four provinces of Rwanda excluding Kigali city are under a 15-days localized lockdown since July 27 in a bid to prevent further spread of the Virus. The lockdown that had been in imposed on Kigali city and eight other districts was meant to contain the surging cases of Covid-19 catalyzed by the presence Delta variant in Rwanda.
