Tanzanian leader finally admits the country has covid cases

Tanzanian president John Magufuli is finally acknowledging that his country has a coronavirus problem after claiming for months that the disease had been defeated by prayer.

The president’s comments came days after the country 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.

In fact, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has added his voice to growing calls for Tanzania to acknowledge COVID-19. Tedros in a statement on Saturday called Tanzania’s situation ‘very concerning’ and urged Magufuli’s government to take ‘robust action’.

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Let’s note that Tanzania has not updated its number of coronavirus infections since April as the president has insisted COVID-19 had been defeated.

President John Magufuli finally on Sunday urged citizens of the country to take precautions and even wear face masks but only locally made ones.