Rwandese President H.E Paul Kagame on Tuesday this week asked the general public to stay vigilant following the confirmation of the new Omicron variant in the Country.
The President alerted citizens after chairing a cabinet meeting at Urugwiro Village where he met Cabinet Ministers including that for Health so as to draft synergies on ensuring the new variant doesn’t spread in the Country the way Covid-19 did between 2020/21.
Few days ago, the Ministry of Health confirmed availability of the Omicron variant in Rwanda thereby urging the public to exercise extra vigilance as they practice all the World Health Organization stipulated measures so as to defeat the pandemic as the World gets close to celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ this December as part of the preventive measures to include; vaccination, frequent testing, plus maintaining a 2 metres social distance as they avoid crowds.
According a communication notice from the Office of the Prime Minister, measures have been put in place so as to curb down the spread of Omicron variant and increase the fight as these are effective from today and shall include; Regulated movements as all business have to close by 11pm while curfew starts at 12am to 4am, all arriving passengers have been subjected to a 3 days Quarantine at a designated hotel on their own expense; while a Covid-19 PCR test must be taken on arrival and additional test taken on the 3rd and 7th day at their own cost still from the day of arrival at a designated testing facility. As well arriving and departing passengers at Kigali International Airport (KIA) will be subjected to present upon arrival a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within a 72 hours’ time frame prior to departure and must comply with health guidelines.
The statement also revealed; Night clubs have been suspend, same applies to all live band sessions in all entertainment venues as well, organized concerts will be approved on a case by case basis by Rwanda Development Board (RDB). In addition, all public offices will operate at a 30% staff capacity as employers are urged to limit staff and have only essential workers who interface with the public, on the contrary, all private business are to operate at a 50% capacity putting in place all Covid-19 preventive measures, and lastly, Traditional, civil and religious weddings guests must not exceed 30% of venue capacity and shouldn’t be above 100 people as home events should have a maximum of 50 persons including local authorities and guests should test for Covid-19 atleast 72 hours prior to the day of the events while observing all related Standard Operating Procedures in accordance with the Ministry of local government guidelines.
Last week, the World Health Organization revealed Omicron had spread to 63 countries by Thursday December 9, 2021 as a much faster transmission was confirmed in South Africa, where Delta is less prevalent, and in Britain, where Delta is the dominant strain.
But the organization stressed that a lack of data meant it could not say if Omicron’s rate of transmission was because it was less prone to immune responses, higher transmissibility or a combination of both.
However, early evidence suggests Omicron causes “a reduction in vaccine efficacy against infection and transmission”, the WHO said in a technical brief. “Given the currently available data, it is likely that Omicron will outpace the Delta variant where community transmission occurs,” it added.
Omicron infections have so far caused “mild” illness or asymptomatic cases, but the WHO said the data was insufficient to establish the variant’s clinical severity.
South Africa reported Omicron to the WHO on November 24. Vaccine manufacturers Pfizer/BioNTech last week said three doses of their jabs were still effective against Omicron.
Countries with sufficient vaccine supplies such as Britain and France have encouraged their populations to receive a third “booster” jab to fight Omicron.
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