{"id":45086,"date":"2022-01-06T08:46:25","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T08:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/covid-19-vaccine-mandatory-for-incoming-passengers\/"},"modified":"2022-01-08T08:48:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T08:48:55","slug":"covid-19-vaccine-mandatory-for-incoming-passengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/covid-19-vaccine-mandatory-for-incoming-passengers\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda makes COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for incoming, departing passengers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new measures have been put in place following the confirmation of COVID-19 Omicron variant identified through genomic sequencing of samples collected from travelers and their contacts. <\/p>\n

The new directives released by the Ministry of Health read that all arriving travelers must present COVID-19 negative test results. <\/p>\n

Only RT-PCR tests taken within 72 hours are allowed for arriving passengers. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll travelers arriving in Rwanda must have a negative Covid-19 certificate. The only accepted test is a SARS-CoV 2 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction [RT-PCR] performed within 72 hours prior to departure (meaning travelers must be tested and get results within 3 days of their first flight). <\/p>\n

Other tests, such as Rapid Diagnostics Tests [RDTs], are not accepted. COVID-19 Test is not mandatory for accompanied children under 5 years. Incoming travelers eligible [aged 12 years and above] for Covid-19 vaccine are encouraged to be fully vaccinated before their travel,\u201d reads part of the statement. <\/p>\n

As per new directives, all arriving passengers must quarantine for 3 days at a designated hotel at their own cost. A Covid-19 PCR test will be taken upon arrival. <\/p>\n

Testing on Day 3 will be both Antigen Rapid Test and PCR Test. People will be released from quarantine on Day 3 upon rapid test results as per the national guidelines while Rapid test will be free of charge. <\/p>\n

{{Subsidized COVID-19 testing cost }}<\/p>\n

The Government of Rwanda has announced that RT-PCR test at the airport will cost US$60 including US50 and US$10 for specific logistics instead of current cost of Rwf 57,200 for each test.. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to facilitate Rwandan citizens to test regularly for Covid-19 and to know their status, including Rwandans returning home for end of year holidays, the Government of Rwanda will subsidize the cost of Covid-19 tests,\u201d adds the statement. <\/p>\n

For the mandatory RT-PCR test taken on Day 7, Rwandan citizens will pay Rwf 30,000 or US$30 instead of current cost of Rwf 47,200 for each test.<\/p>\n

Among others, all arriving travelers are required to pay the cost of both mandatory RT-PCR tests of arrival and of Day 3 of quarantine on arrivals at Kigali International Airport but sample collection for day 3 tests will be conducted at the designated hotel. PCR Test of Day 7 will be done from designated testing sites at own cost.<\/p>\n

All travelers arriving or transiting in Rwanda must complete the passenger locator form and upload the Covid-19 PCR test certificate before heading to the airport.<\/p>\n

All travelers transiting for more than 12 hours through Rwanda will be screened upon entry and take a second Covid-19 PCR test on arrival. Sample collection will be conducted at the airport upon arrival and passenger will wait for the results at the designated transit hotel. The Covid-19 Test Results for transiting passengers for more than 12 hours will be fast-tracked so that passengers can get the results before their next flight.<\/p>\n

All transiting travelers who are not leaving the airport for less than 12 hours will be screened upon entry and not required to take a second test. However, the latter is not applicable for transiting passengers by land border. In that case, passengers will be tested using RT-PCR Test and waiting for the results from the designated transit hotels before proceeding. <\/p>\n

{{Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination certificate for departing passengers}}<\/p>\n

The new directives also read that all travelers departing from Rwanda must test negative for COVID-19. The only accepted test is a SARS-CoV 2 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) performed within 72 hours before departure. <\/p>\n

The PCR test must be performed by the Rwanda Biomedical Center\/National Reference Laboratory, Provincial or District Hospitals. Other tests, such as Rapid Diagnostics Tests (RDTs), are not accepted while COVID-19 Test is not mandatory for accompanied children under 5 years. <\/p>\n

Travelers have been encouraged to book and pay for their tests at least 2 days prior to departure.<\/p>\n

Rwandans travelers eligible (aged 12 years and above) for Covid-19 vaccine departing from Rwanda must also be fully vaccinated while travelers are not allowed to go to the airport without negative COVID-19 PCR test results. <\/p>\n

Latest statistics form the Ministry of Health show that over 116,000 people have caught COVID-19 while 1362 succumbed to the virus since it emerged in Rwanda in March 2020. <\/p>\n

Citizens are reminded of the critical importance of adhering to instituted health guidelines namely; washing hands, proper wearing of face masks and keeping social distancing among others. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{The Government of Rwanda has permitted flights to and from Southern Africa to resume and imposed mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for arriving and departing passengers.} <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-45086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45086"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=45086"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=45086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}