COVID-19 IMPACT

When the COVID-19 virus erupted, programs to control the HIV virus came to a halt in nearly all countries. For Rwandan men though, they continued flocking to health centers for circumcision to protect themselves against the HIV/Aids virus. Newly released data by the UN aids agency UNAIDS shows that while…

Despite its limited material resources, Cuba is responsible for developing two of only 23 coronavirus vaccines to have entered phase III trials anywhere in the world – and it has another three on the way. Helen Yaffe (University of Glasgow) explains how the Soberana, Abdala, and Mambisa vaccines work; how they will roll out…

Rwanda has put in place heavy measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen the country manage to control the virus spread despite having had to go through at least three lock downs in Kigali and countrywide. Though these measures have seen many wear facemasks, stay at home and…

For over a year now, the country has been in and out of different forms of lockdowns in a government attempt to control spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Except for isolated cases of people arrested for flouting the regulations, the general observance has been overwhelming. One such case of a…

On March 11, marks one year after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. In Rwanda, the first case was reported by the health ministry on March 14, 2020 – four days after the WHO announcement. It was on March 21, that the first national lockdown was…

Chris Murray, a University of Washington disease expert whose projections on COVID-19 infections and deaths are closely followed worldwide, is changing his assumptions about the course of the pandemic. Murray had until recently been hopeful that the discovery of several effective vaccines could help countries achieve herd immunity, or nearly…

Several schools and private contractors are counting losses following decision by Muhanga district to pick the food supplied to schools, and instead distribute it as aid during the COVID-19 lockdown. In March 2020, when government ordered all schools closed, public schools already had huge stocks of food for students to…

From the time Rwandan society formed centuries ago, unique forms of personal greetings started to develop. These practices could be worsening the COVID-19 pandemic, than we are willing to accept. One of those forms is called guhobera, which is essentially a hug with a few extra steps. When greeting each…

About 1.5million people in Rwanda’s capital Kigali are back in a government-instituted lockdown beginning the night of January 18. This lockdown is to control the spread of new COVID cases in the city. Other regions of Rwanda will only have to observe a night curfew beginning early evening.  For tens…

Medical doctors, scientists, medical experts and government officials are still learning about coronavirus as it continues to spread here in Rwanda and ravage nations across the globe. So far, the most disturbing finding is that Covid-19 appears to have lingering effects long after a person has recovered. Scarring of lungs,…

For nearly a year, the vast majority companies have struggled during the coronavirus pandemic, but some small businesses in select sectors are seeing lots of new and returning customers.  Businesses that help people socially distance themselves, and retailers that enable people to eat and drink at home have benefitted wildly.…

On the border between Rwanda and DR Congo, wheelchairs supplied millions of litres of water to Goma. In the Southern province, a cooperative for people living with disabilities knitted sweaters for schools. When the coronavirus emerged, Rwanda locked up its economy and borders. The two groups lost everything – and…

Back in February and for years before, around the Giseminti-Remera suburb of Kigali, partying was order of night and day. It is a spot dotted with hundreds of bars, restaurants and lodges. It is one of many such spots around Kigali. On March 22, a week after the first COVID-19…

Poor countries like Rwanda will have to wait much long to access any possible COVID-19 vaccine as rich countries have already snapped up billions of doses. It means that the two vaccines publicised this week and last, showing more than 90% efficacy have already been sold out, even before production…

March 21, government closed Rwanda’s land border and airspace in frantic efforts to block possible carriers of the COVID-19 virus from entering. For communities living along the 217km Rwanda-Tanzania border, not only are they buying goods from inside Rwanda at a higher price, their livelihoods have been greatly impacted. The…

In February, Nyirandayishimye Patience, a mother of one, had a shop in Batsinda, a struggling Kigali neighborhood, selling Ibitenge (African fabric). It is a business Nyirandayishimye has been engaged in for sometime. Suddenly, the whole world, and eventually Rwanda in mid-March went into lockdown as the COVID-19 virus spread. Nyirandayishimye…

One in five households in Kigali are making very tough choices to be able to survive since government imposed devastating COVID-19 measures. With no work since losing their jobs in March, many have opted to relocate to rural areas, says latest periodic food security assessment by the Famine Early Warning…

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown between 88 million and 114 million people into extreme poverty, according to the World Bank’s biennial estimates of global poverty. The reversal is by far the largest increase in extreme poverty going back to 1990 when the data begin, and marks an end to a…

When the government closed bars in March and other strict COVID-19 measures imposed, more people actually bought alcohol and beverages, at least going by figures from the biggest industry player. However, as The Chronicles reports, the deeper story gives a gloomy picture of the industry. Some alcohol and drinks producers…

By the end of last year, any given day was party time. And when it came to weekends, the temperatures even went higher. Concerts, live shows in bars and festivals kept revellers on their feet from year in, year out. Then suddenly, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Though the first case…

Schools are unlikely to fully open anytime soon since they were closed on March 12, two days before the first COVID-19 case was announced in Rwanda. At least 14% of the 78,108 total teachers for secondary school level and below, were employed by private schools. While their counterparts employed by…