In a struggle against the coronavirus, Rwanda President Paul Kagame has announced that 20 000 households will receive free food deliveries during the lockdown.
The President in a press statement said the coronavirus had hit the country unexpectedly but they were working tirelessly trying all they could to secure the nation at a time when it was most necessary.
The health department had confirmed ten new cases of people infected with COVID-19 in the country. All the ten recorded people happened to have come from high risk countries. These raised the total number to 70 people with the virus. The east African country announced its first case about two weeks back. All patients are in isolation and in stable conditions, the ministry said.
After realising the danger that the country had already been in, Rwandan President Paul Kagame acknowledged that people’s livelihoods had been affected by the lockdown thereby formulating a social protective plan for the delivery of free food to at least 20 000 less unfortunate households in the capital Kigali.
“We know that this is not an easy period for most Rwandans, whose livelihoods have been interrupted across the country. But we ask you to be patient. Although we are making good progress, we cannot afford to relax yet,” he said.
“We need to speed this up. The government will continue to do everything possible, to support Rwandans through this challenging time,” he added.
Kagame said he also planned to provide essential services such as the supply of water and electricity for free. He also pleaded with the nation to follow the regulations that the government had put across just for the given period in trying to erase the virus before spreading to uncontrollable numbers.
Non-essential businesses were ordered to shut down. The travel of people from city to city was also prohibited to safeguard the people and try to flatten the curve.
