Easing Lockdown Restrictions during COVID-19 Outbreak in Rwanda

Lockdown measures have helped to contain COVID-19 while also creating socioeconomic harms as well. As of this summer, many countries are deciding to ease social distancing measures to revive their economies. This review article examines responses to the pandemic in countries outside Africa, across the continent, and within Rwanda. Specifically, it explores the dynamics of maintaining public health measures that seem to be at odds with national goals of employment, business development, and growth of GDP. This desk review combines data from epidemiology, African area studies, international relations, political science, and economics to offer an interdisciplinary assessment of Rwanda’s position as a current pandemic success story, but which may experience future economic hardships as a result of lockdown measures.

Keywords
coronavirus; social distancing; economic development; poverty; health governance.