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Rwanda’s government has ordered the lifting of a lockdown on the capital Kigali and eight other districts even though Covid cases are still on the rise.
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The new measures will run from August 1-15, the government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on Friday.
Movement between Kigali and other provinces and districts of the country can resume, but a dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in place.
All social gatherings are still banned and schools and churches remain closed, but weddings are allowed with a limit of 10 guests.
There was no immediate explanation for the lifting of the lockdown, which was imposed in mid-July.
Rwanda, a country of 13 million people, has enforced some of the strictest containment measures on the continent and implemented a rigorous regime of testing and contact-tracing.
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But in recent weeks, infections have surged.
In total, Rwanda has registered nearly 70,000 cases of Covid-19 of which 798 have been fatal, according to figures published on Friday.
Over the past seven days it has recorded daily infections of over 1,000.
But like other countries on the continent, vaccine uptake has been slow due in part to a lack of doses and to public apathy.
A nationwide campaign aimed at vaccinating 60 percent of the population by next year has so far reached just over 452,000 people, according to the latest government statistics.
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