The Government of Rwanda is using drones to urge compliance with preventive measures against COVID-19 in densely populated, difficult-to-reach neighbourhoods and high-risk zones where many have not been respecting these measures. This lack of compliance was because community awareness teams could not access the areas.
Drones equipped with cameras were therefore deployed to complement radio/TV messages, community health workers and other community leaders. The recorded footage allowed local authorities to closely monitor areas for the need for any intervention or evacuation that would normally take longer to identify and organize.
Drones are just one part of Rwanda’s integrated national response to COVID-19.
Even before it registered its first case, Rwanda formed a national crisis committee of key Ministries representatives, chaired by the Prime Minister, which put in place a COVID-19 Joint Task Force (JTF) to coordinate the implementation of a preparedness and response plan.
Close to 2000 people from across sectors are working in different areas of interventions including epidemiology, dealing with surveillance, contact tracing, lab testing and case management, including psychological support. Other important supporting areas of intervention are risk communication and community engagement and planning logistics.
Similar structures were established in all 30 Districts under the leadership of mayors. Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were activated at district levels reporting on daily activities to the central level.
The Rwanda Biomedical Center conducts tests by thousands. The laboratory started off with the capacity to test close to a thousand samples on daily basis but in four months ramped that up 15-fold by shifting to pool testing. The Government of Rwanda has set up several isolation sites and 10 treatment centers to offer treatment to confirmed cases.
With the support of UNDP Rwanda and other donors, high-tech robots have been introduced at treatment centers to administer temperature checks, monitor patient status, and keep medical records of COVID patients. The use of robots is meant to minimize risk of infections among health care workers.