The health ministry in Rwanda has announced 17 new Coronavirus cases, the country's highest single-day increase in the number of confirmed infections.

The country now has a total of 36 confirmed cases, which is the highest in the East Africa region.

Of the new cases, only one was locally infected, nine had recently arrived from the United Arab Emirates, three from Kenya, two from the US and one each from India and Qatar, the ministry said in a statement.

Rwanda is currently under total lockdown that was imposed on Sunday, the first sub-Saharan African country to take such a stringent measure to curb the spread of the virus.

In the region, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia have all confirmed cases, while Burundi and South Sudan are yet to report any case.