Prayer has not defeated COVID-19 cases— Tanzania’s President admits
Prayer has not defeated COVID-19 cases— Tanzania’s President admits
President of Tanzania, John Magufuli has finally acknowledged that his country has recorded coronavirus cases after claiming for months that the disease had been defeated by prayer.
President Magufuli on Sunday urged Tanzanians to take covid-19 precautions and wear local face masks to help contain the spread of the virus.
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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.
President Magufuli, speaking at the chief secretary’s funeral in a nationally televised broadcast on Friday, urged the nation to participate in three days 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.
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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.
Source: www.spotonnews.net
