Senior local administrative officials from Nyaruguru, a district in Southern Rwanda on Friday announced new security measures at the border with Burundi to prevent illegal crossing amid the outbreak of COVID-19.The Mayor of Nyaruguru  District, Francis Habitegeko explained that  crossing the porous border  has led to mounting fears over the potential impact of new infections  carried from neighboring Burundi.

Residents of the Rwandan  sectors located on the border with Burundi were warned to avoid crossing  the border with Burundi amid COVID-19 outbreak.

The warning  comes after neighboring countries of Rwanda, including the Democratic  Republic of Congo, Burundi and Tanzania have reported a growing number  of cases.

In March this year, Human Right Watch warned that  Burundian authorities risked placing its citizenry in grave danger  without the free flow of fact-based information on the pandemic after  the outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza’s spokesperson said: “Burundi  is an exception because it is a country that has put God first.”

Burundi,  which the government claimed was protected by “divine grace”, has so  far officially recorded 63 positive cases, including one death. But  authorities are accused by doctors and the opposition of hiding COVID-19  cases, attributing them to other diseases such as pneumonia.