Rwandan law enforcement operatives have shut down 70 bars and restaurants and arrested their owners and managers for not complying with new measures aimed at containing the coronavirus, a police source revealed in Kigali on Monday.
Those arrested include owners of pubs operating illegally and those who had turned their homes into bars in different parts of Kigali, which is against COVID-19 lockdown measures, according to police spokesperson John Kabera.
Among other violations observed by police included employees not wearing face masks while walking around and food not being served and clients ordering drinks at bar areas without observing social distancing rules.
Without naming any specific bars or owners, Police Commissioner Kabera said that the recently arrested bar owners had been previously warned but refused to comply.
“Unfortunately, when it gets that serious, you have to escalate the enforcement,” he said.
As of Sunday, the total number of infections in Rwanda stood at 4,820.
Recoveries are at 3,099, those tested stood at 488, 942 cases.
29 deaths have been registered in six months since the first Covid-19 case was reported in Rwanda on March 14, 2020.
CU/as/APA