The 21-day lockdown that was recently imposed on Kigali has had a tremendous impact, reducing new Covid-19 cases in the city by 72 percent according to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) Director-General. Announced on January 18, the lockdown measures were meant to curb the high number of new infections that were being recorded in the city, especially between late December 2020 and January 2021. According to medics, by around mid-January, Kigali was accounting for about 60 percent of all new Covid-19 recorded in the country since the New Years Day. During the 21-days of the lockdown, public transport was suspended in the city, non-essential businesses halted, and citizens were strongly urged to stay at home. On Monday, February 8, the lockdown was lifted, allowing people to go on with their work - but still under strict preventive measures like curfew, social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks. After the three weeks of the lockdown, RBC has come out to shed light on the impact of the measures. The impact of the 21-day lockdown on Covid-19 spread in the City of Kigali is remarkable, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, the Director-General of RBC posted on his Twitter account. New cases reduced by 72 percent. Let’s maintain these numbers low, he added, urging citizens to wear masks, keep a metre distance, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing hands frequently. In the last ten days, Kigali has recorded 609 new cases out of the 1,837 recorded all over the country in the same period of time. Meanwhile, though the lockdown was lifted, public offices still remain closed in Kigali as the fight against the spread of the virus goes on. Public employees are requested to work from home except those who offer essential services. Private businesses have resumed their work with essential staff at not more than 30 per cent capacity, and business operations stop at 5 PM every day.
