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Rwandan capital Kigali returned to custody to curb surge in coronavirus cases and deaths
The Rwandan capital Kigali and eight other districts across the country are being returned to lockdown to curb the upsurge in coronavirus cases and deaths.
Citizens are urged to significantly reduce social interactions and limit travel to only essential services until July 26.
Public and private offices, except those providing key services, have been closed.
Other measures are expected to come into force, including a ban on outdoor sports and recreational activities, while schools will be closed and the number of people attending funerals is capped at 15.
International arrivals and tourism will continue, however.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew introduced across the country in June remains in place.
Rwanda has so far avoided the worst of the pandemic by enforcing some of the continent’s strictest containment measures and implementing a rigorous testing and contact tracing regime.
But in recent weeks, cases have skyrocketed as the East African nation battles more virulent variants of the virus, including the delta.
Hospitals have been overwhelmed, with a severe shortage of desperately needed beds and medicine.
The country of 13 million people has recorded nearly 51,000 cases of Covid-19, including 607 fatalities.
But like other countries on the continent, uptake of the vaccine has been slow in part due to a lack of doses and public apathy.
A nationwide campaign to immunize 60 percent of the population by next year has so far reached only 401,160 people, according to the latest government statistics.
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