AFP | Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli says he will reopen schools and allow sporting activities to resume in the next one week, claiming that Covid-19 infections in the country have greatly reduced.
Addressing a Sunday service, Magufuli read out a list of quarantine and isolation facilities where most of the patients had been discharged, noting that God had ‘answered Tanzania’s prayers.’
Some of the hospitals he cited included Amana in Dar es Salaam which he said had 198 patients and is now only left with 12 only.
He stated that Mloganzira which had 30 patients currently has only six cases, adding that Luranzi centre in Kibaa had discharged 28 patients of out of the 50 it had admitted.
“I plan to open colleges so that our students can keep up. But I also plan to let sports continue because sport is one of the most entertaining places for Tanzanians,” said Magufuli.
He went further to announce that a number of airlines in the country had made full bookings until August for tourists waiting to travel to Tanzania, adding that he had instructed his Ministers to allow the flights into the country.
Magufuli said the visitors will not be placed under mandatory quarantine upon arrival in Tanzania but will only undergo temperature tests then be cleared to tour the country.
“There are airlines who have booked tourists until the eighth month. Flights are free for coming to Tanzania to begin exploring… They come because they know the truth is coming because Tanzania is so beautiful.
“I have given instructions to the Ministries of Natural Resources and Transport to let the flights in and they will not be put on quarantine. Once the temperature is measured, they go and look at the animals,” he said.
During the church service, Magufuli vowed not to place the country on lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus, saying such a move would be disastrous to the economy.
He encouraged Tanzanians to continue working hard to improve the economy, saying that his country would be there to help countries that would be suffering as a result of the lock-down they imposed on their people during the pandemic.
Magufuli said Tanzania has previously witnessed and dealt with other types of viruses, therefore would not be intimidated by the coronavirus.
“…we cannot allow the corona to rule, our God will rule … We have had diseases like AIDS … but we have not allowed them to rule us. If we make our economy so sleepy, we won’t pay,” Magufuli said.
The US embassy in Tanzania last week raised concern over the rising and unreported Covid-19 cases in the country.
A health alert issued on May 13, 2020 said the risk of contracting COVID-19 in Dar es Salaam, a major city and commercial port, is extremely high.
“Despite limited official reports, all evidence points to exponential growth of the epidemic in Dar and other locations in Tanzania,” the statement read.
According to the American embassy, the Tanzanian government has not released any data on COVID since April 29, so there is no current data on the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the country.
