A cabinet meeting sat on Wednesday, August 11, chaired and resolved to ease guidelines in place to fight Covid-19. The guidelines were eased following a drop in daily Covid-19 new infections in the country compared to the situation a few weeks back. The country positivity rate has dipped as low as 4.9 percent from a staggering 11.6 percent last month. Here are the five things you should know 1.Curfew hours reduced Effective Thursday, August 12, curfew will start at 8:00 pm through 4:00 am, from the previous 6:00 pm. Businesses will now close at 7:00 pm an increase of 2 hours from the previous measures. 2.Places of worship, restaurants to resume operations Under the new guidelines, places of worship that fulfill requirements will resume operation with 30 percent occupancy of their capacity. Restaurants, which have been offering takeaway services, have been allowed to host customers but should not exceed 30 per cent occupancy. However, restaurants with outdoor facilities may operate at the 50% capacity, according to a statement issued by the Prime Ministers Office. 3.Permitted capacity of public transport increased Public transportation buses have been allowed to work at the 75 percent capacity from the previous 50 percent. However, they were urged to ensure vehicle windows are always opened to maximize ventilation and practice social distancing as usual. 4.Wedding ceremonies allowed Civil, religious and traditional wedding ceremonies shall resume without exceeding 30 persons. However, events conducted in licensed event avenues will be allowed to operate at the 30 percent venue capacity. All attendants, according to the statement, will be required to provide a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours. 5.Rwandas vaccine manufacturing plant gains momentum The cabinet was briefed on the cooperation agreement between Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the International Finance Center (IFC) on the Vaccine Manufacturing plant in Rwanda. The development comes at a time more than 680,000 Rwandans have been vaccinated, as part of the effort to vaccinate 60 percent of the total population by end of next year. Rwanda is one of the three African countries selected mid this year to become regional vaccination hubs.
