The cabinet meeting held on 18th January 2021 put Kigali city under total lockdown and called on Rwandans to heighten vigilance in observing COVID-19 health guidelines in order to slow the spread of the virus.

The meeting also decided that only essential services will continue to be offered.

In order to comply with the directives, RDB has issued new guidelines for tourism activities to be respected until further notice.

As per issued guidelines, travel for tourism within Kigali, other provinces and districts is permitted with strict adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures.

The guidelines also read that arriving and departing passengers must present a negative SARS-CoV 2 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) taken within 120 hours prior to arrival or departure.

Designated hotels for arriving passengers will remain open under strict COVID-19 preventive measures.

Other guidelines

Tourism activities including visits to national parks, museums and other tourist attractions as well as city tours will remain open to international and domestic tourists countrywide with strict adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. All tourism service providers facilitating guests will be required to inform and share itineraries with RDB.

Travelers including drivers, traveling to tourism within entities within Kigali and other provinces and districts are required to fill and submit movement requests together with copies of negative COVID-19 test results to [email protected] at least 24 hours prior to the trip.

Tourism establishments are required to apply for clearance for their staff on weekly basis at least 24 hours prior to movement.

Hotels will only be permitted to host essential conferences with a written approval by RDB.

RDB has reminded the public to adhere to health and safety directives issued by the Ministry of Health to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Rwanda confirmed the first Coronavirus patient on 14th March 2020. Since then, 11 548 people have been tested positive out of 804 337 sample tests of whom 7580 have recovered, 3820 are active cases while 148 have succumbed to the virus.

Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.

Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.

Tourism activities including visits to national parks remain open.