Kigali city on 15 days Lockdown

Kigali City on 15 days Lockdown: The Rwandan government has imposed a 15 day lockdown on its capital Kigali making it the second lockdown on the capital since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Last year 2020 in March the country’s capital put on a 45 day lockdown that ended in June 2020 and the lockdown was used to curb the spread of the coronavirus during that season. Reports indicate that indeed that 45 day lockdown was helpful and critical in the reduction of covid19 cases and the spread of the virus then.

Rwanda has since seen an increase in coronavirus cases and deaths and is currently fighting a second wave of coronavirus that has seen the country suffer from an unusual rise in the number of deaths of coronavirus and an increase in the virus transmission rates especially in the capital Kigali.

In a statement that was released by the Rwandan government on Monday 18th January 2021, the government stated that it was imposing a 15 day lockdown on Kigali which is the country’s capital and this lockdown was to take effect immediately.

This 15 day lockdown comes after the country has seen a sharp increase in the numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths in the past weeks with 61% of the new cases accorded to the Kigali city.

During this 15 day lockdown the following measures will be imposed.

All movements outside residences in Kigali will be prohibited and only allowed if approved by the police.
The only persons who would be allowed to move out of their residents are essential service providers who have permits of movements from the authorities.
All workers apart from the essential workers will work from home.
Public transportation is prohibited during the 15 day lockdown and private transport will only be permitted for essential workers or if approved by the police.
Movements between Kigali and other provinces will not be permitted unless it’s for essential services or tourism.
Tourism outside Kigali City will still go on under the recommended Covid-19 standard operating procedures and all tourists will be required to have negative covid-19 test certificates to access the different tourism sites.
Kigali International airport will continue operations under strict observance of the coronavirus standard operating procedures and arriving passengers will be required to present a negative Covid-19 test certificate that should have been taken not more than 120 hours before their flight. Those departing will also be required to show a negative Covid-19 test certificate taken at least 48 hours before their flight.
Public places and all locations of worship together with learning institutions will be closed within this 15 day lockdown.
Weddings, conferences, workshops etc are prohibited during this period and funerals are to be attended by 10-15 people under observance of the Covid-19 Sops.
Restaurants, cafes and other eating places will not be allowed to host any people but will be allowed to offer takeaway services to their customers.
The nation-wide curfew will now start at 6pm and end at 4am.

The 15 day lockdown is to help the government curb the spread of the coronavirus and contain the number of persons who are currently suffering from the coronavirus. The government says it arrived at this decision after records showed that 61% of the new coronavirus cases in the past few weeks were within the country’s capital Kigali.

According to John Hopkins University; Rwanda has so far recorded 146 coronavirus deaths from 11,259 confirmed cases. The Rwandan government has continued to urge public hospitals to treat coronavirus patients with community based health insurance.

Rwanda is one of the top tourist destinations in East Africa and one of the three countries in the world with mountain gorillas living in their natural habitats. Volcanoes National Park which is the home to the mountain gorillas is located in Rwanda’s Northern Province of Musanze and can still be accessed by tourists who wish to take part in the mountain gorilla trekking experience. As per the government statement, tourists with negative covid19 test certificates are allowed to travel to the other provinces of the country for their tourist activities.