Following the announcement from the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) confirming a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda, residents of the Huye District have declared their commitment to enhancing hygiene practices in order to combat the virus more effectively.
Huye District, located in the Southern Province, is well-known for its numerous higher education institutions and tourist attractions. Residents have stated that they have chosen to proactively address the information they received regarding COVID-19 rather than remain passive. Instead, they are taking concrete measures aimed at fighting this disease.
Mukamana Anatholia, a resident of the Tumba Sector, stated, “We are aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on our lives and our economy. Therefore, we have taken measures to continue promoting hygiene until we eradicate COVID-19 from our country.”
Among the initiatives the residents have implemented is encouraging their neighbors to resume the use of handwashing facilities and to reinforce cleanliness in their homes and public areas.
Nshimiyimana mentioned, “We urge that through awareness campaigns, people be encouraged to use handwashing facilities which some had constructed, but are now no longer in operation.”
These measures were taken by the residents following RBC’s report that, among 16,000 samples tested, 0.7% showed a positive result for COVID-19. The report also indicated that while Rwanda is starting to see an increase in cases, there are currently no serious patients.
In an interview with IGIHE, the Director-General of RBC, Prof. Claude Mambo Muvunyi, reassured Rwandans by stating that the current wave of the virus does not present the same severity as previous outbreaks. “There is nothing to be alarmed about, as the detected cases are not severe. This is similar to common flu, and with COVID-19, we are under 1%. In the testing campaign we conducted, we had reached up to 16,000 samples.”
In recent days, there has been an uptick in COVID-19 cases in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. The new variant, named NB.1.8.1, accounts for approximately 10% of all global infections and has already been detected in Northern Ireland and Wales.
Residents are advocating for the reactivation of handwashing facilities that are currently inoperative, as regular handwashing remains one of the key strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
