Rwanda: COVID-19 tests to be available free of charge

ANKARA (AA) - Health centers across Rwanda are set to conduct COVID-19 diagnostic tests free of charge, an official said on Monday.

The Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) has been distributing rapid diagnostic tests to health centers since last week, The New Times newspaper quoted Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, the director general of RBC, as saying.

He said the beneficiaries should either have had close contact with a positive case, or be a patient themselves.

Nsanzimana said the rapid diagnostic tests are “highly accurate.”

Separately, in a tweet, he urged anyone with COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath or cough to "urgently get tested."

The East African country has so far confirmed 7,970 cases, 74 related deaths and 6,289 recoveries.