Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) has said that the recent upsurge of Covid-19 new cases and fatalities is mostly fuelled by the violation of preventive measures and late testing, hence calling for early voluntary testing. As of Sunday January 3, 2021, Rwanda had 8,676 total Covid-19 confirmed cases and 101 fatalities. Last week alone the country confirmed 706 infections and reported 27 fatalities, the highest number in a single week. Since the outbreak of the virus in Rwanda, December 2020 by far is the month during which many infections and fatalities of Covid-19 were registered. Speaking to The New Times on Monday, January 4, Julien Niyingabira, the Division Manager of Rwanda Health Communication Centre (RHCC), said that regular testing for Covid-19 can reduce the number of fatalities linked to the virus. “Currently, people only go for testing when they are already in critical condition, when instead, everyone should undergo medical check-up once they realize having any symptom of this virus,” he said. Niyingabira also said that the situation becomes much worse when the person who tests positive for Covid-19 has underlying health conditions like Diabetes and blood pressure among other non-communicable diseases. According to RBC, at the moment, there are 36 Covid-19 patients in intensive care, where they are being provided with oxygen. Symptoms of Covid-19 include shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, fever and dry cough among others. Recently, in bid to improve citizens’ access to the testing services, the Ministry of Health cleared 42 private clinics to start testing people, using antigen rapid tests. In these clinics, the cost of a single test should not go above Rwf10,000. The move among other reasons paved way for anyone willing to undergo regular voluntary testing to do so, which was not the case previously, because for one to be tested, they would only be among contacts of an infected person or pay a fee of Rwf47,200 ($50) – an amount many could not afford. However, so far, a big percentage of people going for testing are partly doing so because without negative Covid-19 results within a specified time, one cannot be allowed access to a number of activities. The activities include traveling, attending particular conferences, staying in a hotel and taking part in professional sports games. Remaining on guard According to Niyingabira, another reason behind the surge in the countries’ Covid-19 infections and fatalities is violating preventive guidelines in place. “People nowadays seem to have forgotten that the pandemic is still around and therefore they don’t adhere to Covid-19 preventive measures such as proper wearing of facemasks, social distancing, and avoiding social gatherings among others,” he noted. He added that: “Different from before when we knew specific groups with the virus, so far anyone despite the location and profession might be infected. We, therefore, stress that we all remain on guard and see each person as someone who can infect you in case you are not vigilant enough.”
