8th April 2020

Another busy day with work, as well as our weekly Zoom chat with VSO and international volunteers.  I also get a call from the medical team in the UK spelling out the possibilities for return and asking how I would feel if I couldn’t get back home until later in the year. My intention was to be here for a year anyway, and I still feel it’s best to stay.  It’s strange having a lot of work emails and messages coming through as though it’s business as usual, and at the same time listening to evacuation facts and making choices in reaction to a world wide pandemic.

It’s a concern here that people may not have enough to live on, but the initiatives carried out by the Rwandan government to distribute food and give free water and electricity, and the collections made by the more wealthy to provide food for those who need it, as well as many other voluntary initiatives is incredible.  The Rwandan Government has also said that all cabinet members, heads of public institutions and other senior officials will be forfeiting one month’s salary in solidarity with those affected by the lockdown.

Meanwhile, MPs in the UK have been offered an extra £10,000 each to support them while they work from home during the coronavirus pandemic. The additional funds have been allocated to help MPs pay for laptops and other computer equipment, as well as electricity, heating and phone bills

Today has seen the highest number of deaths so far in the UK – 938.

Despite hopes that Rwanda’s numbers were dwindling, today sees five new cases, four contacts of previously confirmed cases who were identified through tracing and one frequent traveller.  The majority are asymptomatic and no patient is in a critical condition.