The advisory, issued on Sunday evening, said “normal business and other activities” could continue in the East African country.
However, he urged the public to avoid close contact with “symptomatic people”. The health ministry listed symptoms as fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
The virus can cause death through extreme blood loss.
Hospital patients will not be allowed visitors for the next 14 days, according to Health Ministry guidelines.
Patients will also be allowed only one caregiver at a time, the guidelines said.
In many developing countries, patients’ loved ones perform basic care tasks, such as washing and feeding, that are typically performed by nurses in other countries.
On Saturday, when the official death toll was six, Rwanda’s health minister said most of the victims were health workers in hospital intensive care units.
Dr Nahid Badelia, director of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, told the BBC’s Newsday program that containing the spread of the virus could be difficult. This is because most of the cases reported were in the densely populated capital, Kigali; previously, they mainly occurred in Kigali. Remote rural areas where quarantine is easier.
But she added that there is hope because Rwanda has “much better infrastructure and a history of public health coordination than many other countries.”
Rwanda said it was stepping up contact tracing, surveillance and testing to curb the spread.
The Health Minister said on Sunday that officials were tracing about 300 people who had been in contact with individuals infected with the Marburg virus.
Authorities have urged the public to thoroughly maintain hygiene, including washing their hands frequently.
This is the first time Marburg has been confirmed in Rwanda.
Neighboring Tanzania reported an outbreak in 2023, and Uganda recorded three deaths in 2017.
