KIGALI - Rwanda has started mass COVID-19 testing of every household in its western border town of Rusizi amid an expanding caseload, a local health official said Monday.

"So far, there are 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rusizi alone. We have decided to conduct mass testing of every household, particularly in areas in Rusizi that lie along the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo border," Sabin Nsanzimana, director general of Rwanda Biomedical Center, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

The target is to test more than 10,000 in Rusizi in order to ascertain the extent of the virus transmission in the area, he said.

Rusizi has been the latest hotspot of COVID-19 outbreak in the country, following Rusizi-related cases continuously being reported in recent days.

The Rwandan health ministry reported 12 new cases on Monday evening, all related to Rusizi, as the number of the total cases in the country has reached 451 with 297 recoveries and two deaths.

"Our target is to at least test 5,000 people within the next three days and we are confident the exercise will go on smoothly since people in Rusizi are now under strict lockdown," said Nsanzimana.

The official said the situation of COVID-19 in Rwanda and Rusizi in particular is under control and there is no cause for alarm.

He also expressed confidence in winning the fight against COVID-19 despite the "ever-rising" cases in Rusizi.

On Thursday Rusizi was partly placed under a lockdown that will last for two weeks based on the assessment of COVID-19 outbreak in the region, one day after 13 new cases were reported in Rusizi in a single day.