Rwanda's state minister in health on Tuesday called on citizens to be patient on newly introduced measures against COVID-19 that suspend transport between all the 30 districts from Tuesday for 15 days.

The measures announced on Monday are aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 in response to a recent spike in infections, Tharcisse Mpunga, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health in charge of Primary Healthcare, told Xinhua.

"You have seen how the daily infections have dramatically increased in a short period of time. If we don't enforce these measures, we may end up recording daily COVID-19 positive cases in thousands," Mpunga explained.

"People should be patient because we are in an unusual situation," he said, adding that all the people in Rwanda and local leaders should not neglect the preventive measures amid the spike in new infections.

Some local passengers on Tuesday were seen stranded in the capital city Kigali as the new measures prohibited public and private transport between districts, which constitute Kigali and the four provinces.

The ban doesn't affect travel for medical reasons and essential services, as well as domestic and international tourists who have negative COVID-19 test results.

Rwanda's single-day infections hit a new high of 172 cases on Monday, bringing the national tally to 8,848, with 6,816 recoveries and 105 deaths.