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KIGALI, RWANDA – APRIL 04: A police officer checks a car on a quiet street after precautions taken against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Kigali, Rwanda on April 04, 2020./Getty Images
As Rwanda continues to experience a surge in recoveries and a reduction in the number of active cases of Covid-19, the Ministry of Health has closed a number of treatment facilities, some of which would be laying idle due to no patients.
The country's active cases have been plummeting for the last couple of days from over 1600 on October 6 to 169 on October 17.
As of October 17, active cases were 169, according to Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC). The figure is the lowest in more than four months.
And now, a source in the Covid-19 task force told New Times Rwanda that a number of treatment facilities in the country have been closed "because it would be a waste to keep them open with staff stationed there if there are no patients."
According to information from RBC, at the beginning of the outbreak, there were two treatment centers in Kigali for the management of confirmed cases.
As the confirmed Covid-19 cases increased, the existing isolation facilities were overwhelmed, and this led to the repurposing of some health centers and schools into Covid-19 treatment centers to meet the high demand. By July 21, there were 18 treatment centers: nine health centers and seven schools with a total capacity of 1986 beds.
Besides, the Ministry of Health also introduced home-based care for COVID-19 patients and this means that not every patient has to be in institutional treatment and isolation. So, this also contributes to the reduction of patients in facilities.
Meanwhile, Rwanda is continuing to ease Covid-19 restrictions. For instance, a Cabinet meeting held on Monday, October 12 lifted restrictionson public transportation, effectively allowing buses to fill all their seats and at least 50 percent of the standing passengers.
(With input from agencies)
