Burundi announced that it had suspended all flights in and out of the country in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus into the country.
The order applies to the Melchior Ndadaye International Airport, which is located in the country’s economic capital, Bujumbura, according to Minister in charge of Public Security, Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni.
“The borders will remain open and we strongly advise citizens not to travel to countries that already have COVID-19 cases,” Bunyoni said.
Burundi is one of 15 countries in Africa to not yet register any positive case of the coronavirus.
However, Burundi’s neighbours, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have all registered positive cases of the coronavirus.
Burundi’s Health Minister Thadee Ndikumana reiterated that the country was on high alert to do as much as possible to prevent the spread of the virus into the country.
“We are working tirelessly to make sure that whoever enters the country from the airport, or any other border point is fully screened,” Ndikumana said.
Ndikumana added that the government had screened more than 250 Burundians who had returned to the country had been screened with none of them so far testing positive for COVID-19.
