Coronavirus: how Rwanda copes with the pandemic

Text by: Caroline Paré Follow | Ophélie Lahccen

National confinement, systematic hospitalization of people tested positive for Covid-19: Rwanda wants at all costs to contain the epidemic to avoid its hospitals being overwhelmed by the number of patients. Interview.

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Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana is Director General of the Rwanda Biomedical Center in Kigali.

Monday, April 6 in the morning, he was the guest of the program Priorité santé , on RFI.

► Read also: What means to fight against the coronavirus in Rwanda?

The national containment measure has been applied since March 21 and has been extended until April 19… Where is the epidemic in Rwanda today?

Like almost every country in the world, we are facing an epidemic of coronavirus. In Rwanda, we took action very early. Before the containment measures, there were also other hygiene measures, which were applied throughout most of the territory, to ensure that people were preparing, even before the detection of the first cases of coronavirus on Rwandan soil. We have recorded 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus. On Sunday, 4 cured cases were able to return home. We have 100 people infected with the coronavirus, who are distributed in two treatment centers in Rwanda. They had about 1,900 contacts, which we tried to test with the aim of recognizing those who can be infected in order to isolate and treat them.

These people tested positive, are they systematically hospitalized, whatever the severity of the case?

Exactly. This is what we have been doing since day one. The first case was detected on March 14 in Kigali. Since that day, we have tested and hospitalized all the positive cases identified. The primary objective is to ensure that there is no contamination circulating, that people are followed. All the cases we have are in stable condition.

In terms of progression of the disease, can you see if the epidemic is curbed or if the number of cases continues to increase?

It is too early to answer this question. We detect new cases every day but it is mainly people who have been in contact with confirmed cases. Everyone is preparing for what can happen if a source of infection is not brought under control. Up to now, it seems that most of the cases identified are imported and the contacts they have had are our priority. In Rwanda, as in the whole world, we are preparing for the epidemic to evolve. We must put in place all the measures to detect, screen and isolate, but also prepare our treatment centers and our hospitals.

Your health system is based on many levels, it is very structured with a social security system, with universal coverage… Have you carried out a reorganization of the care structures? What measures have been taken at national level to limit the risk of transmission to caregivers?

At the level of health structures, our priority is not to overload existing health systems. This is the reason why the two specific treatment centers for coronavirus have not been installed in existing hospitals. This avoids creating contamination at the hospital level for patients already hospitalized, but also to allow hospitals to prepare for severe cases, with pulmonary complications, which require intensive care.

Do you have the appropriate resuscitation services to deal with these complications?

Our health system is growing every day. There were already existing services, especially at the level of university hospitals. The system, as it is built, begins at the community level (health centers, district and provincial hospitals, etc.). From the provincial level to the level of university hospitals, we have much more capacity for resuscitation, intubation, intensive care ... At the moment, we are equipping these centers and hospitals with more capacity and equipment, but we also train staff to deal with complicated cases at the pulmonary level. Not everyone can manage these pulmonary complications: at the level of staff, equipment but also at the level of existing health structures.

To return to confinement, what measures in terms of prevention and support to the populations accompanied this decision ? WHO recommends that " governments use the measures in a thoughtful manner, to ensure that people can continue to access basic needs ". Do you have the impression that today this access is possible in Rwanda ?

The essential services for the population (banks, markets, health services, etc.) continue as before. There is a large part of the population who cannot necessarily remain confined without working. The government set up, at the beginning of the confinement period, a distribution system which is organized from the village, up to the level of the districts and provinces, in order to come to the aid of these populations. There is already a list of people who need this essential help. They are helped by already existing structures. For health services, this gives us an important window of operation to stop the progression of the virus as soon as possible, so that these essential services can continue.

An essential message to convey?

We are faced with an emerging, new virus. We are all learning: be it health specialists, researchers. What we learn every day helps us to adapt our actions and reactions. It is important that this international dialogue continues. It is also important that our populations understand the importance of containment measures, because the virus does not circulate, it is the people who circulate! The recommendations must be observed.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Coronavirus Info , daily chronicle on the pandemic

• Explanation: The origins of the Covid-19

• Analysis: What strategies in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic?

• Practical questions:
→ What is the lifespan of the virus ?
→ Who are the vulnerable people ?
→ Quarantine, what are we talking about ?
→ How do you treat Covid-19 patients ?
→ How the Institut Pasteur hopes to find a vaccine

• Doctors' answers to your questions about the Covid-19

Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

See also our contents on containment .

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• Rwanda
• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine
• Containment

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