Rwandan police shot and killed two people who defied lockdown orders imposed by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The two men in their twenties "attempted to tussle with officers," Rwanda National Police spokesman John Bosco Kabera said by phone Wednesday, Bloomberg reports.

Rwanda began a two-week lockdown on March 22, restricting travel between towns and cities and asking people to stay indoors. Its measures are among the most stringent in Africa.

The country has 40 confirmed Covid-19 cases.