Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) spent Thursday night carrying out mass testing for COVID-19 to the cluster of people caught moving beyond 9PM.
The testing was carried out at all the four centres in City of Kigali; Amahoro, Kicukiro and Kigali stadiums as well as the Independent University of Kigali (ULK) ground in Gisozi, where the violators are taken.
The centres are wide spaces used to control movements beyond 9pm, where those caught violating the 9pm restriction are educated on the pandemic, enlightened on the directives and reminded of prevention practices.
Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, RBC Director General said that they are working with Rwanda National Police (RNP) to add clusters of violators on the list of those to be sampled and tested.
“These people moving beyond 9PM, some of them every day, raise questions when you are dealing with such pandemic,” Dr. Nsanzimana said.
He added: “We are dealing with a deadly virus, so you can’t take any chances; the results will tell us the status of this specific group, but they will know their status as well.
We have started with those, who move beyond 9PM but we will also extend it to others including those who are caught not wearing facemasks.”
He observed that such violations can give room to further spread of the virus, adding that testing many people or clusters helps to trace contacts, as well as to understand and respond to the problem.
“The pandemic has already taken eight of our people; it is still in our midst, there is no room for complacency; it’s not yet out of hands, but this is not the time to lean back, every directive means something in fighting this pandemic and should be respected,” he said.
The only remedy today, he noted, is to follow the directives and safety guidelines.
“Wash your hands, avoid unnecessary movements and any contact with another person wherever you move, wear a facemask, avoid visits and be home by the recommended time.”
Although discovering the vaccine is in advanced stages and Rwanda among the countries believed to get it first, Dr. Nsanzimana said, this step should find the country at a certain level where only few people would need it.
“There are more than 2 billion people across the globe in need of this vaccine, but we shouldn’t wait for that time; the country has not and neither should any resident of Rwanda. This virus started with one person and rapidly became a pandemic, certainly one person can still be a problem today.”
RNP spokesperson, CP John Bosco Kabera said that no one deserves to spend a night in these centres as everyone should be home.
He, however, commended the increasing level of compliance.
“Previously, we used to have hundreds of people in these centres, today we see only tens of violators. Equally, motorists used to be many every night but the number has dropped tremendously to not more than 10 motorists every night,” CP Kabera said.
He observed that the reduction is largely attributed to education programmes in these centres thus recording rare cases of recidivism.
“No one should be in these centres, people should be in their homes. Police officers, equally have other pressing issues to attend to rather than being here on matters that can be addressed by just an individual’s positive attitude and actions for their own safety.”
He noted that COVID-19 doesn’t differentiate, it kills and can only be effectively fought at the moment by individual behaviours and practices aligned to the directives and other recommended prevention measures. (End)