Results of mass testing conducted in eight districts under lockdown show that over 8,000 people tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of Health revealed on Sunday, July 25.

A total of 188,915 people were tested since Monday, July 19, when the mass screening began in the eight districts, namely Gicumbi, Burera, Musanze, Rubavu, Rutsiro, Kamonyi, Nyagatare and Rwamagana.

With 8,090 positive tests, the average positivity rate in districts stands at about 4 per cent, which WHO believes is manageable.

The current lockdown in Kigali and the eight districts has been extended by five more days.

The numbers were announced by Dr. Daniel Ngamije, the Minister of Health when he appeared on national television to explain the reason behind the lockdown extension.

However, four districts reported a positivity rate of more than 5 percent, which is described as high. 

Rwamagana District tested 21,524 people, of whom 1,275 got a positive result. With a 5.9 percent positivity rate, the district has the highest level of infection.

Kamonyi tested 23,365 people and returned 1,302 positive results while Burera took 17,840 tests of which 963 turned out positive.

Nyagatare took 32,442 tests and 1,668 were positive.

The district with the lowest level of infection is Rubavu in Western Province where 461 people tested positive, out of 27,331 tests taken.

Ngamije said the five days would help reduce the rate of infection in the districts.

The Ministry of Health commenced separate mass testing efforts to show the prevalence of Covid-19 in Kigali and in the districts.

The ministry said that a record surge in new cases, which started in June, had been caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, which accounted for 60 percent of recorded infection.

Since the outbreak in March 2020, Rwanda has recorded 64,589 cases of Covid-19. On Saturday, 9 died of the virus, taking the total death toll to 727.