The Ministry of Health announced on Monday, April 13 that the number of recoveries from coronavirus in the country has reached 42, after 17 patients were discharged from treatment facility located n Kanyinya, Nyarugenge District on Monday.

Meanwhile, the daily status update from the ministry indicated that one new case of COVID-19 was recorded on the same day, which brought the total number to 127 cases.

The new case was diagnosed positive amongst 901 samples tested in 24 hours as the other 900 tested negative.

The newly found patient had a recent history of travel.

Tracing of contacts is ongoing and all patients are under treatment in stable condition in designated health facilities, according to the communique.

The majority of the patients are asymptomatic and none of the patients is in critical condition, according to the ministry.

The ministry emphasized that anyone who withholds information relevant to contact tracing or knowingly fails to report COVID-19 symptoms jeopardizes public safety and will be punished in accordance with applicable laws.

Rwanda recorded its first COVID-19 case on March 14th.

To contain the highly contagious virus, government imposed a countrywide lockdown that was later extended to April 19th. All public gatherings were banned with only essential services to continue operating.

In a bid to further strengthen the fight against the pandemic, Rwanda announced the usage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) commonly known as drones to raise awareness about the coronavirus in local communities.

Globally, coronavirus cases have risen to more than 1.8 million while the death toll stands at over 118,000.

ailiza@newtimesrwanda.com