Senior local administrative officials from Nyaruguru, a district in Southern Rwanda on Friday announced new security measures at the border with Burundi to prevent illegal crossing amid the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Mayor of Nyaruguru District, Francis Habitegeko explained that crossing the porous border has led to mounting fears over the potential impact of new infections carried from neighboring Burundi.
Residents of the Rwandan sectors located on the border with Burundi were warned to avoid crossing the border with Burundi amid COVID-19 outbreak.
The warning comes after neighboring countries of Rwanda, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Tanzania have reported a growing number of cases.
In March this year, Human Right Watch warned that Burundian authorities risked placing its citizenry in grave danger without the free flow of fact-based information on the pandemic after the outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza’s spokesperson said: “Burundi is an exception because it is a country that has put God first.”
Burundi, which the government claimed was protected by “divine grace”, has so far officially recorded 63 positive cases, including one death. But authorities are accused by doctors and the opposition of hiding COVID-19 cases, attributing them to other diseases such as pneumonia.
CU/abj/APA