The New Wave of COVID 19 pushes Rwanda, Uganda to take drastic measures as the number of new infections continue to rise
The Rwandan government has once again put in place drastic measures to curb the spreading of COVID 19 epidemic across the country.
Since early this month, the cases have quadrupled, from an average of 50 cases recorded in the past four months to over 300 cases per day.
Noting that the number of people infected with COVID 19 continues to rise, the Government of Rwanda has issued a number of regulations, including the closure of public and private offices.
The two-week strategy will be revised after a thorough assessment of the existing COVID 19 epidemic.
In the meantime, some parts of the country will, Thursday, only open their offices to employees who provide essential services.
Clearly, the measures taken will have a negative impact on people, especially those with limited resources.
While some of the activities will continue, there are a large number of young people who are casually employed in the private and public offices, and thus find that discontinued services will create problems in families supported by such young people. Many of them are paid based on the service rendered.
Another case will be the fact that the movement of people will decline, so people who drive taxis, motorcycles and bicycles can also face a decline in the number of passengers because many jobs have been put off.
Among the other measures taken are the closure of churches and schools. Effective July 1, all schools and higher institutions are closed in Kigali including some other parts of the country.
However, students who are preparing to take the National Examination will be assisted by the Ministry of Education to ensure that the scheduled state exam is conducted properly and successfully.
COVID 19 has once again hit various countries including Uganda where the number of infections is also on the rise. Uganda has also imposed strict regulations to deal with the pandemic.
According to various reports from Uganda, the country is battling a resurgence of coronavirus infections, driven mostly by the delta variant.
The government has tightened restrictions, closing schools, imposing a night-time curfew and banning all nonessential travel.
While hospitals grapple with oxygen shortages, the country continues to wait for desperately needed vaccines.
The effects of the ongoing COVID 19 epidemic include closing workplaces, curbing the movements of people and that will lead to a variety of impacts including food shortages in various parts of Africa and around the world.