KIGALI, (The Southern African Times) – Rwandan Minister of Health Daniel Ngamije on Sunday affirmed the central African nation’s capacity to prevent a third wave of COVID-19 despite a rise in infections in the past two weeks.
There are currently 17-20 people testing positive per 100,000 tests in the country, Ngamije said during the Rwanda Television’s talk show.
The country will gradually expand rapid testing services in specific areas such as big hotels, he said, adding that any events taking place in public places must not exceed 30 percent of the venue’s capacity, and all participants are required to have a negative test result of COVID-19 within 72 hours.
The country expects to secure 4.5 million more vaccine doses in the coming months, including 1 million Johnson & Johnson ones, he said.
Rwanda launched the first phase of a COVID-19 vaccination campaign nationwide on March 5. It plans to vaccinate 30 percent of its population by the end of this year and 60 percent, or some 8 million people, by 2022, to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus.
As of Saturday, the country had registered 28,146 COVID-19 cases with 26,341 recoveries and 370 deaths.
