A man in Car-free day in Kigali. Day or night, none is allowed to practice sport outside home until April 19
Ministry of sports has directed people to refrain from going outside their homes for sport and fitness activities in a bid to stop the spreading of COVID-19.
Rwanda has so far confirmed 84 COVID-19 cases and tracing of their contacts is going on. The country is under a lockdown that will last until April 19.
“The set prevention measures include cancellation and postponement of sports calendars across the world and the lockdown that aim at keeping citizens safe and stop spreading of COVID-19. The current circumstances have also compelled measures to refrain from outdoor sports activities,” reads the statement from the ministry of sports.
“The ministry of sports encourages all athletes to practice and maintain self-conditioning and remain healthy to be prepared for whenever the postponed games will resume,” the statement reads.
The statement adds that “The government of Rwanda commends the decision made by all international sports federation to prioritize the health and security of athletes by postponing, or canceling planned sports events to avoid the spread of COVID-19 infections.”
According to the ministry of sports, staying home is an opportunity for athletes who qualified for the Olympic Games to keep preparing and training hard as they respect COVID-19 preventive measures.
“We exhort you to continue practicing individually and follow the instructions of your trainers during this period. We also encourage you to remain good examples of responsible behavior by respecting the measures taken by the government.”
The official statement from the ministry of sports directing the public to refrain from outdoor sports activities comes after renewed warnings by national police against violation of COVID-19 lockdown.
Since the announcement of restrictions intended to stop spreading COVID-19 by the Prime Minister, Police kept asking the public to observe the directives, but some people did not fully comply.
On Thursday, police reiterated, with an emphasis that whoever will be caught in activities that would put the community at risk will be pubished.
“If you want to stretch legs, you may do it at home. If you want to chat, do it with people you stay with or use your mobile phone and if you are tired, relaxf from home,” said Commission of Police John Bosco Kabera, spokesperson of Police at public television.
“This time, we shall afford to accompamy someone to confirm whether they told us the trough about their destination. In case we find that they lied to us, they will be fined.”
CP Kabera said that Police has now reached a point where it will have to confiscate vehicles of people who violate the lockdown.
“If a driver lies to us, their cars will be confiscated until the end of this stay at home period,” Kabera said.
