Wednesday- 7th July, 2021: Rwanda health minister has disclosed that the country has re-opened Covid treatment centres after a surge in cases and they are now all full, according to the health minister.
The country, in the last two weeks has recorded nearly 1,000 new cases daily.
However, there are concerns about the Delta variant that has been found in neighbouring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“There are more critically ill patients and more deaths, numbers are increasing…we have never been here before in this pandemic,” Health Minister Dr Tharcisse Mpunga told the state broadcaster.
Dr Mpunga said the causes of the new surge include low vaccination rates as around just 3% of the population have had the jab.
He also mentioned the movement of people across the border after DR Congo's Mount Nyiragongo erupted in May as a possible reason for the surge.
In the last week, the health ministry reported 60 deaths from the virus.
The authorities have introduced strict measures whereby businesses are ordered to close at 17:00 local time and a night curfew starts at 18:00.
Schools, churches and bars, are all closed.
