(4 minutes read)
· Rwanda has registered its protest to the United Kingdom after ban imposed on travelers from the east African country
· People who have been in or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish, and third country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home, according to the visit ban imposed by Britain
· Rwandan authorities said that the overall response to Covid-19 including testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting has been consistent, transparent and corroborated by third party entities
Rwanda has registered its protest to the United Kingdom after a ban imposed on travelers from the east African country. The reason for the ban is to stop the spread of mutant strains of Covid-19 in Britain.
The UK’s transport minister recently announced that his country had added Rwanda, Burundi, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its coronavirus travel ban list effective from January 29. People who have been in or transited through these countries will be denied entry, except British, Irish, and third country nationals with residence rights who must self-isolate for ten days at home, according to the visit ban imposed by Britain.
However, Kigali argued that its pandemic control efforts had been open and consistent. Rwandan authorities said that the overall response to Covid-19 including testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting has been consistent, transparent and corroborated by third party entities. It may be noted that the capital city of Rwanda, Kigali,was put under lock down for 15 days on account of the spurt in infection. Rwanda has mandated the requirement of PCR Covid-19 test for all departing passengers and all those in transit. RwandAir has been operating flights to London Heathrow three times a week since last October. In the meantime, Rwandan authorities point out that Australian think tank -Lowy Institute – recently ranked Rwanda first in Africa and sixth globally in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of the 98 countries ranked globally gauging their level in terms of average performance in managing the pandemic within 36 weeks when they recorded their 100th coronavirus case, according to the think tank the position of Rwanda was commendable. Kigali recorded 15,304 cases and 199 deaths since last March. However, the UK recorded 3,820,000 cases and over 100,000 fatalities. Burundi has reported just over 1,000 cases.
