The government has called upon the public to embrace digital payments more because, besides minimizing chances of contracting Coronavirus, it facilitates the tracing of contacts linked to a new patient. Thw appeal comes a day after more Covid-19 cases were identified in Kigali city, including among taxi-moto operators. For the past two days, Rwanda for the first time recorded community cases of Covid-19 in Kigali, and among these included taxi-moto operators. In Kigali, seven cases were diagnosed on Monday while the day before, there were six cases. According to Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, the Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), besides the new cases found in taxi-moto operators, the other new infections identified in Kigali on June 22, are traceable to previously confirmed cases. Appearing on Radio Rwanda on Tuesday, Nsanzimana urged commuters using taxi-motos, saying that it will ease the process of tracing contacts in case someone is positively diagnosed. “If a taxi-moto operator tests positive, we need to trace all those who commuted with them, so if one hasn’t paid using digital payments, they risk their lives because we won’t recognize them in the system”, he explained. Many of the 59 cases identified on Monday June 22, according to Nsanzimana, were from the two hotspots of Kirehe and Rusizi districts, where majority of the cases have so far been traced in the country. According to the health ministry, the 33 cases identified in Kirehe on Monday came from cross-border drivers, 12 in Rusizi relate to repatriated Rwandans who had been in isolation and families of previously confirmed cases. The four identified cases in Nyamasheke are people who had previously visited Rusizi who were isolated, and three in Rubavu are cross-border traders. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, digital payments were made free, and grew by 450% in less than three months.
