Rwandans tend to go onto panic mode whenever new updates of the Coronavirus are published. They are always waiting anxiously in the evening for the latest and Rusizi and Rusumo have become household names because of their notoriety in reporting new cases on a nearly daily basis. While some of the measures the government takes to control the pandemic might seem harsh, it is bitter medicine but necessary medicine all the same. One can say that the virus has not yet gone out of hand because of the government’s quick and decisive actions and the world has taken notice. Just last week, renowned German health institute, Robert Koch Institute (RKI) gave Rwanda’s efforts a seal of approval by naming it among the few African countries that were no longer a Covid-risk. In simple terms, even though there were still cases of the virus coming in, they were manageable and did not risk getting out of hand. As if on cue, this week the European Union (EU) went a notch higher. As it prepared to open up its borders, not everyone was welcome for fear of further spread of the virus among its member-countries. It drew a selective list of countries it deemed had met the threshold in the fight against Covid-19 and whose nationals could therefore travel to the EU. Rwanda made the cut together with Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, the only ones on the African continent. To everyone’s surprise, the United States was the elephant in the room that was conspicuously absent. Rwanda’s inclusion on the list is yet another vote of confidence and that it was on the right path in the fight against Covid-19. What we need now, more than ever, is to maintain that path.
