Places of worship in Rwanda have been allowed to open again after about four months of closure due to Covid-19 prevention measures.
A cabinet meeting held on Wednesday July 15th put some a condition that each facility would be opened after an inspection to determine if it meets the set preventive measures.
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that the Ministry of Local Government will issue guidelines to be adhered to by places of worship in this regard.
Recently, Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) issued guidelines to be followed by places of worship before they can be allowed to reopen.
The measures are mainly aimed at maintaining physical distance among worshippers.
RGB also urged that every house of prayer must have hand sanitizers, infrared thermometers and measures to uphold the use of face masks.
Also, in the event of re-opening, said RGB, children below the age of 13 will not attend, while those aged 13 to 18 will only attend in company of a parent or guardian.
The number of congregants is also very restricted to avoid overcrowding.
On this note, the Inter-religious Council were tasked by RGB to select prayer houses that meet safety measures.
The cabinet meeting also resolved that Covid-19 preventive measures like measures the curfew between 9p.m and 5 a.m, wearing of face masks in public and social distancing among others will continue to be adhered to.
Currently, the total tally of confirmed covid-19 cases in Rwanda are around 1,435, of which 752 have recovered.
Since March, when the first Covid-19 case was reported, conducted 194,802 Covid-19 sample tests and recorded four deaths from the pandemic.
Meanwhile, believers have expressed their happiness in regard to the reopening,
“I don’t have a lot to say about it, but I am glad Churches are open again. And I like how our government sees the needs of people, and saw that people need to go back to Churches again, but above that, wants them to stay safe and protected by putting in place measures that govern attending services. It’s a good time for Christians to fellowship together, but they should not forget to respect measures put in place by the authorities,” said Neema Faustine
Another believer said,
“What we have experienced has never happened before. This is a great lesson that everything will have an end. Some people misbehave about the end of the earth but here are some proofs. We have learnt a lot during lockdown and we are happy that we shall be sharing praises again together as God’s family,” he said.
