Kigali: Rwanda on Wednesday announced stricter Covid-19 preventive measures, suspending nightclubs and increasing quarantine days for arriving travellers, effective from December 16, following the confirmation of the first six cases of Omicron variant in the country.
All arriving passengers must be quarantined for three days at a designated hotel at their own cost. A Covid PCR test will be taken upon arrival and an additional test taken on the third day and on the seventh day at own cost from arrival date, a statement released by the Prime Minister’s office said, following Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
The government had reintroduced mandatory 24-hour quarantine for incoming travellers in November following detection of the Omicron variant in South Africa, Xinhua news agency reported.
The government has also suspended nightclubs and live band entertainment in other venues, according to the statement.
It said organised concerts will be approved on a case by case basis. On Wednesday, the Rwandan Ministry of Health announced that the first six cases of Omicron variant had been confirmed in the country through genomic sequencing of samples collected from travellers and their contacts.
The ministry said the new measures are intended to contain the spread of the Omicron variant which has been shown to spread rapidly.
As of December 15, Rwanda had recorded an accumulated tally of 100,763 Covid cases with 1,344 deaths.
At least 6.9 million people in the east African country have received the first Covid vaccination jab while 4.2 million are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.