Congo caps public gatherings as third COVID-19 wave builds

FILE PHOTO: Children play inside their apartment on the 23rd floor of a residential building, during a lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Gombe district of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo April 18, 2020. Picture taken April 18, 2020. REUTERS/Kenny Katombe/File Photo

The Democratic Republic of Congo will limit public gatherings to 20 people and close nightclubs as the country grapples with a third wave of COVID-19, President Felix Tshisekedi said on Tuesday.

Congo has officially registered relatively few cases, but low vaccination rates have left the country vulnerable to more contagious strains, including the highly-infectious Delta variant.

"For several weeks we have seen a persistent rise in the number of people infected," Tshisekedi said in a televised address. "We need to react with speed, and above all, methodically."

FILE PHOTO: African Union President and President of Congo Democratic Republic Felix Tshisekedi speaks during a joint news conference at the end of the Summit on the Financing of African Economies in Paris, France May 18, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo

Last week, Tshisekedi told reporters that hospitals in the capital Kinshasa had been "overwhelmed" by the rising infections.

Congo has registered more than 35,000 infections and 834 deaths, according to figures from the Africa Centre for Disease Control. The World Health Organization said on June 2 that COVID-19 cases in Congo were rising exponentially.

FILE PHOTO: A disabled courier cycles a super-sized tricycle laden with sacks grocery at the no-man's-land amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak between Rwanda and Congo in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo November 20, 2020. Picture taken November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Djaffar Al-Katany/File Photo

(Reporting by Stanis Bujakera; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the Ngaliema Clinic in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 29, 2021. REUTERS/Hereward Holland/File Photo