Associated Press
Sun, February 21, 2021
John Magufuli
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s president is finally acknowledging that his country has a coronavirus problem after claiming for months that the disease had been defeated by prayer.
Populist President John Magufuli on Sunday urged citizens of the East African country to take precautions and even wear face masks — but only locally made ones. Over the course of the pandemic he has expressed wariness about foreign-made goods, including COVID-19 vaccines.
The president’s comments came days after the country of some 60 million people mourned the death of one of its highest-profile politicians, the vice president of the semi-autonomous island region of Zanzibar, whose political party had earlier said he had COVID-19. The president’s chief secretary also died in recent days, though the cause was not revealed.
Magufuli, speaking at the chief secretary’s funeral in a nationally televised broadcast on Friday, urged the nation to participate in three days of prayer for unspecified “respiratory” illnesses that had become a challenge in the country.
Tanzania has not updated its number of coronavirus infections since April as the president has insisted COVID-19 had been defeated. Tanzania’s official number of coronavirus infections remains at just 509, but residents report that many people have become ill with breathing difficulties and hospitals have seen a rise in patients for “pneumonia.”
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has added his voice to growing calls for Tanzania to acknowledge COVID-19 for the good of its citizens, neighboring countries, and the world, especially after a number of countries reported that visitors arriving from Tanzania tested positive for the virus.
Tedros in a statement on Saturday called Tanzania’s situation “very concerning” and urged Magufuli's government to take “robust action.” Others recently expressing concern include the United States and the local Catholic church.
WHO chief calls on Tanzania to combat Covid
WHO chief calls on Tanzania to combat Covid
The vice president of semi-autonomous Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, died after his opposition party admitted he had contracted coronavirus
The head of the World Health Organization on Sunday appealed to Tanzania to take "robust action" against Covid-19 in the country, where the president has long played down the virus.
President John Magufuli has claimed coronavirus has been has fended off by prayer in Tanzania, and refused to take tough measures to curb its spread.
But a recent spate of deaths attributed to pneumonia has struck both members of the public and government officials.
And Magufuli on Friday appeared to admit the coronavirus was circulating in his country after months of denial.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a number of Tanzanians travelling to neighbouring countries and beyond have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"This underscores the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond," he said in a statement.
Tedros said he had urged Tanzania in late January to take measures against the pandemic and to prepare for vaccinations.
"Since then I have spoken with several authorities in Tanzania but WHO is yet to receive any information regarding what measures Tanzania is taking to respond to the pandemic.
- Papaya, quail and goat -
"This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data.
"I also call on Tanzania to implement the public health measures that we know work in breaking the chains of transmission, and to prepare for vaccination."
The country last gave case figures in April 2020, reporting 509 infections.
At the same time Magufuli revealed he had secretly had a variety of items tested for the virus -- of which a papaya, a quail and a goat apparently tested positive.
On Wednesday, the vice president of semi-autonomous Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, died after his opposition party admitted he had contracted coronavirus.
The head of the civil service, John Kijazi, also died Wednesday.
The cause of death has not been revealed. But Magufuli brought up Covid-19 at his funeral.
"When this respiratory disease erupted last year, we won because we put God first and took other measures. I'm sure we will win again if we do so this time around," he said.
However dissent is mounting within the country to the government's position on the pandemic.
On Saturday, the Tanzania Law Society became the first professional body to call on the government to openly recognise the virus and take adequate measures.
On Sunday, Magufuli revealed that some of his aides and family members had contracted Covid but recovered, and offered some lukewarm support for the use of masks.
"The government has not banned use of masks but some of these are not safe at all… let's be careful," he said after a service in a Dar es Salaam church.
"Let us all depend on God as we also take other preventive measures. I put God first and that is why I do not wear a mask."
The health ministry in a statement Sunday called on citizens to "continue to believe in God" and also respect preventive measures, including mask-wearing.
er/fal/wdb/tgb
The head of the World Health Organization on Sunday appealed to Tanzania to take "robust action" against Covid-19 in the country, where the president has long played down the virus.
President John Magufuli has claimed coronavirus has been has fended off by prayer in Tanzania, and refused to take tough measures to curb its spread.
But a recent spate of deaths attributed to pneumonia has struck both members of the public and government officials.
And Magufuli on Friday appeared to admit the coronavirus was circulating in his country after months of denial.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a number of Tanzanians travelling to neighbouring countries and beyond have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"This underscores the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond," he said in a statement.
Tedros said he had urged Tanzania in late January to take measures against the pandemic and to prepare for vaccinations.
"Since then I have spoken with several authorities in Tanzania but WHO is yet to receive any information regarding what measures Tanzania is taking to respond to the pandemic.
- Papaya, quail and goat -
"This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data.
"I also call on Tanzania to implement the public health measures that we know work in breaking the chains of transmission, and to prepare for vaccination."
The country last gave case figures in April 2020, reporting 509 infections.
At the same time Magufuli revealed he had secretly had a variety of items tested for the virus -- of which a papaya, a quail and a goat apparently tested positive.
On Wednesday, the vice president of semi-autonomous Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad, died after his opposition party admitted he had contracted coronavirus.
The head of the civil service, John Kijazi, also died Wednesday.
The cause of death has not been revealed. But Magufuli brought up Covid-19 at his funeral.
"When this respiratory disease erupted last year, we won because we put God first and took other measures. I'm sure we will win again if we do so this time around," he said.
However dissent is mounting within the country to the government's position on the pandemic.
On Saturday, the Tanzania Law Society became the first professional body to call on the government to openly recognise the virus and take adequate measures.
On Sunday, Magufuli revealed that some of his aides and family members had contracted Covid but recovered, and offered some lukewarm support for the use of masks.
"The government has not banned use of masks but some of these are not safe at all… let's be careful," he said after a service in a Dar es Salaam church.
"Let us all depend on God as we also take other preventive measures. I put God first and that is why I do not wear a mask."
The health ministry in a statement Sunday called on citizens to "continue to believe in God" and also respect preventive measures, including mask-wearing.
er/fal/wdb/tgb
WHO says still has no details from Tanzania COVID-19 response
WHO says still has no details from Tanzania COVID-19 response
WHO says still has no details from Tanzania COVID-19 response
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The head of the World Health Organization urged Tanzania on Sunday to share information on its measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, saying the authorities there had repeatedly ignored his requests.
President John Magufuli's sceptical approach towards COVID-19 has caused alarm among WHO officials. A government spokesman told Reuters on Feb.12 that Tanzania had "controlled" the outbreak, but it stopped reporting new coronavirus infections and deaths in May last year. At the time it had registered 509 cases and 21 deaths.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that Tanzanians testing positive for COVID-19 abroad underscored "the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond."
Tedros also repeated a call he made with Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Africa head, in late January for Tanzania to bolster public health measures against COVID-19 and prepare to distribute vaccines.
He added that since then he had spoken with several authorities there to no avail.
"This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data," Tedros said in a statement on WHO's website.
Tanzania government spokesman Hassan Abbasi did not respond to a Reuters message seeking comment on Tedros' remarks.
In a statement later on Sunday, Magufuli's office said the president wanted Tanzanians to follow measures to protect themselves against coronavirus. However, it also said that:
"Magufuli wants Tanzanians to ... trust and put God first, given that wearing masks, social distancing and lockdowns have been seen to be insufficient as countries that implemented them have lost thousands compared to Tanzania."
Magufuli attended a funeral service on Friday for a senior official in his office whose cause of death was not made public, and declared three days of national prayer.
On Sunday, Magufuli said Tanzanians should wear only use locally-made face masks, saying foreign-made ones may be unsafe.
On Monday, Oman's health minister said his country was considering suspending flights from Tanzania, after 18% of travellers arriving from Tanzania tested positive for COVID-19.
Thailand reported on Monday its first case of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa, in a Thai man who arrived from Tanzania.
(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Editing by George Obulutsa and Raissa Kasolowsky)
President John Magufuli's sceptical approach towards COVID-19 has caused alarm among WHO officials. A government spokesman told Reuters on Feb.12 that Tanzania had "controlled" the outbreak, but it stopped reporting new coronavirus infections and deaths in May last year. At the time it had registered 509 cases and 21 deaths.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday that Tanzanians testing positive for COVID-19 abroad underscored "the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond."
Tedros also repeated a call he made with Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Africa head, in late January for Tanzania to bolster public health measures against COVID-19 and prepare to distribute vaccines.
He added that since then he had spoken with several authorities there to no avail.
"This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data," Tedros said in a statement on WHO's website.
Tanzania government spokesman Hassan Abbasi did not respond to a Reuters message seeking comment on Tedros' remarks.
In a statement later on Sunday, Magufuli's office said the president wanted Tanzanians to follow measures to protect themselves against coronavirus. However, it also said that:
"Magufuli wants Tanzanians to ... trust and put God first, given that wearing masks, social distancing and lockdowns have been seen to be insufficient as countries that implemented them have lost thousands compared to Tanzania."
Magufuli attended a funeral service on Friday for a senior official in his office whose cause of death was not made public, and declared three days of national prayer.
On Sunday, Magufuli said Tanzanians should wear only use locally-made face masks, saying foreign-made ones may be unsafe.
On Monday, Oman's health minister said his country was considering suspending flights from Tanzania, after 18% of travellers arriving from Tanzania tested positive for COVID-19.
Thailand reported on Monday its first case of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa, in a Thai man who arrived from Tanzania.
(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Editing by George Obulutsa and Raissa Kasolowsky)
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