Members of the public are gradually adapting to national Covid-19 guidelines again, following a renewed sense of vulnerability and vigilance as the country continues to see a surge in new infections.

The cabinet over the weekend underlined the significance of enforcing existing national guidelines, and tightened restrictions in some aspects – with new measures coming into force Monday, June 14.

While most of the rules have been in place for over a year now, several of them were generally loosely observed, a situation that’s largely blamed for the recent spike in cases, particularly in Kigali city.

When a New Times’ team visited different businesses in the Central Business District earlier this week, traders found themselves reverting to the public health and social distancing protocols many had ignored in recent months.

At the Kigali City Market in Nyarugenge District, there were notably fewer vendors and clients on Monday, with a group of youth volunteers, in their signature neon green reflective jackets, helping enforce the rules.

Many of the ‘social distancing’ circles we were used to seeing in front of shops and other businesses as well as at public transport terminals and bus stops in the early days of the pandemic have largely faded. This was the case at the city market when we visited it on Monday, save for a few freshly repainted spots.

"We are talking to our bosses to see if more circles can be restored as soon as possible,” Longene Irakiza, a youth volunteer at the city market told The New Times. A shopper is supposed to stand within marked space, at least a metre from another buyer.

Vendors in markets are required to work in shifts of 50/50.

Remember the strings shop owners used to keep clients at a safe distance? They are back. At least in some places. 

And, inside individual shops, only one attendant is allowed at a time.

Social distancing must also be observed inside shops, said Irakiza. "There has to be strictly one attendant.”

Youth volunteers, otherwise formally known as Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Community Policing (RYVCP), have been instrumental in enforcement of Covid-guidelines in public places.

Cashless payments

At major stores and commercial complexes, like the Kigali City Market, the volunteers are tasked with ensuring that people are masked up, wash hands properly before entering the facilities, and are screened for temperature.

Adnan Salgo, a businessman at the market, said all was generally going well in terms of Covid protocols but decried the fact that most buyers are still reluctant to embrace cashless payment systems.

"We have codes to pay us on, but many clients don’t want to use the Momo (mobile money) system,” he says, adding that only about 40 per cent of his clients use Momo to pay.

Youth volunteers constantly walk through the hallways of this facility – that was once temporarily closed due to Covid outbreak – reminding people to wear their masks properly and checking if the clients are not too physically close to each other.

For every open shop there was another closed as part of the mandatory shift arrangement.

Salgo, who was alone in his shop like most other shop attendants around the building, kept reminding customers to keep a distance and to wait for others to finish with their shopping. He was also urging them to use Momo to pay.

Temperature screenings rare

Many shops, pharmacies and paperwork houses have also ‘remembered’ to put sanitizers on their tables, and brought back ‘kandagira ukarabe’ hand-washing containers, along with liquid soaps.

Equally, many restaurants The New Times visited this week had reduced the number of seats and created space between tables to meet the requirement of a minimum of two-metre distance.

Yet so few screen clients for temperatures.

Generally, across the city, while most businesses seem to be complying with the closure hours (8p.m) and are generally responsive to other safety protocols, the situation is nowhere near the heightened vigilance witnessed in the early days of the pandemic. Blatant violations remain too. Some people are even still clandestinely operating illegal bars in their homes.

One area where the impact of new Covi-19 guidelines was felt almost instantly is public transport. Commuters are now waiting in long queues for much longer during peak hours because buses are once again restricted to carry half their capacity.

At the downtown bus station, every entrance was manned by volunteers who made sure that every commuter washed their hands or sanitized properly before boarding.

Every bus stop has a volunteer standing there whose task is to show commuters where to stand, reminding them to wear their masks properly and making sure that each bus carries a maximum of 50% of its capacity.

However, there were no temperature screenings when we visited the park.

Compliance ‘still a challenge’

"Things have changed back to the previous guidelines, because they brought again that system of one person per seat with just a few people standing and maintaining a distance,” says Ange Umutoni, who’s waiting for a bus.

But some members of the public, including business operators, have also been faulted for flouting guidelines.

"Some people are not cooperative,” said Yassina Igihozo, the Nyarugenge District Secretary for RYVCP, the youth volunteers.

She added, "These guidelines are not new per se because they were first rolled out last year but compliance is still a challenge even as people generally know what is at stake when they violate the rules.

"However, we will continue playing our part and working closely with the public and other stakeholders like the police and local authorities to enforce safety guidelines,” she added.