The streets in Rwanda's capital city are busy and people are returning to work ON Monday morning after three weeks of lockdown to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Health officials say that during the last three weeks, cases and casualties of the virus have reduced considerably, in Kigali and around the country.

"Life is back, not in full this early morning, but three weeks at home were very hard," a motorcyclist tells BBC Great Lakes.

In Kigali, many shops have reopened, public buses and motorcyclists are back on roads and people look busy again, says the BBC’s Yves Bucyana in the city, but it's still far from normal.

All schools in Kigali are closed, and across the nation bars, churches, entertainment and all public gatherings are still forbidden. Plus, from Monday people must observe a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

"During the lockdown, new cases have dropped from 365 per day to 150 in the country… and deaths from almost 10 to two or three per day," Dr Tharcisse Mpunga, a top official at health ministry, told Rwanda's state broadcaster.

On Sunday, President Paul Kagame told a meeting with the national football team that Rwanda expect Covid-19 vaccines by the end of February, but "people would still observe preventive measures".