Alpha Ngenzi (not real name) is the last born in an extended family of nine. He has always been the closest child to his parents.

On August 10, his mother was discharged from a hospital with mild symptoms of Covid-19.

That same night, Ngenzi tucked his mother in bed. She was very weak and quiet. Before he left the bedroom, she uttered her last words: “My son, I think it is over.”

To Ngenzi, life has never been the same since that day. He considered his 62-year-old-mother his best friend.

After his mother’s funeral the next day, something still didn’t feel quite right. He was sad and horrified but also very unsettled.

“I was walking to the car thinking of heading directly to the hospital to see my father who had been admitted to the same hospital my mother was. Then I heard one of my sisters behind me scream “no, that can’t be.” It was a call from the hospital.  My father too had passed away because of Covid-19,” Ngenzi narrates.

“His funeral was held the next day. I still can’t grasp what happened that week.”

His both parents had lived with hypertension and diabetes for over 18 years. They were diagnosed with Covid-19, a week before they passed away.

His parents are two among over 1,440 Rwandans who have lost their lives to the virus since May 30, 2020, when the first Covid-19 death was recorded in the country.

Ngenzi is just one among probably thousands of Rwandans who went through the same tragedy.

“Losing a loved one to Covid-19 is not just a tragedy. You keep thinking about how millions of people are going through the same experience and increasingly so. The grief and trauma will last forever. Carrying on from this point seems far-fetched,” Ngenzi said.

Ngenzi’s parents had only received their first Covid-19 vaccine dose by the time they passed away. He can’t help thinking that if they had taken both doses, they probably would have been saved.

He finds it unfortunate that there are individuals who take granted a vaccine that can guarantee to prevent what he is currently going through.

“Grief is a horrible, draining experience for anyone. There are items in the house I can’t use or look at because they remind me of my parents. They were the most precious people in my life. Covid-19 took them before I could make them proud as I have always wanted,” Ngenzi narrates with a tremble in his voice.

The government recently imposed a 10pm curfew and suspended the popular mass sports, car free day, in new Covid-19 restrictions as the country grapples with a fresh wave of virus infections.

The additional rules have pushed curfew time forward from the longstanding midnight to 10pm effective December 20, while closing time for businesses will be moved to 9pm from the current 11pm.