Rwanda closes schools in capital over Covid fears

Rwandan authorities have announced closure of nursery, primary and secondary schools in the capital, Kigali, as numbers of coronavirus cases continue to rise.

The closure takes effect on Monday.

Education Minister, Valentine Uwamariya, said schools in other provinces will also close if more cases are confirmed there.

Schools were reopened in November after eight months closure.

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in the country with more than 1,000 new cases and 22 fatalities reported in the last seven days.

The country has so far confirmed 11,032 cases with 142 deaths.

The government has ordered public hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients with their widely used community-based health insurance.