Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) has shortened the period of Home-Based Care for coronavirus infected patients from 10 days to a minimum of seven days, followed by a control Covid-19 test.
In the new guidelines, RBC states that only fully vaccinated people are permitted to go through the seven-day isolation period once they have tested positive for Covid-19.
It emphasizes that close contacts with symptoms should be tested immediately, while those without symptoms can be tested after three days.
A recovery certificate will not be required for those who test positive after recovering from Covid-19.
The term “recovered” refers to a person who tests positive and undergoes 10 days of isolation, but remains positive on PCR with CT values above 37, is negative on a rapid diagnostic test, and has no Covid-19 symptoms.
RBC states that the recovery certificate is valid for 90 days; however, it can be invalidated in the event of a new infection confirmed by a positive rapid test or PCR test with low CT values.
Those who intend to use the certificate provided by the ministry for travel should contact their airline, transit country, and destination country to make sure the certificate is valid, even if the RT-PCR test obtained before travel was still positive for Covid-19.
These new recommendations follow the highly transmittable Omicron variant, but it is less severe for people who have been vaccinated. More than 2000 cases were reported in Rwanda within a 24-hour period in the past few days.
The Ministry of Health recorded 610 positive cases from 20,835 tests conducted, totaling 7,402 infected people within a week.
Five people were in critical condition and two died on the same day.
People in Home-Based Care are advised to use separate household items from the rest and keep distance from close contacts as they take care of themselves with different activities and take a healthy diet.