Rwandan police on Thursday arrested four people who had escaped from a COVID-19 treatment center in Eastern province.

The quartet, who contracted the disease and were receiving treatment at the center set up at a secondary school in Ngoma district, escaped on Wednesday evening after breaking iron window bars, the Ngoma district police said in a statement.

Security organs and local leaders worked together to locate their whereabouts and arrested them following a tip-off from people who saw them, the statement said.

Security officers and medics are tracing their likely contacts, including their families, according to the statement.

The police urged those who could have had contact with the quartet to come forward for tests and due treatment to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Rwanda on Thursday reported 16 new cases and 13 recoveries, bringing the total confirmed cases to 1,210 and total recoveries to 623. The country so far has registered three deaths. (Xinhua/NAN)