Tanzania: Covid-19 cases - 509+ cases; 16 deaths - potentially many more cases

[kiwibird]

https://in.reuters.com/article/healt...-idINKCN2260YZ

Confirms 285 cases and 10 deaths.

 

[Shiloh]

299 cases: https://www.ippmedia.com/en/news/zanzibar-adds-15-more-cases-taking-tally-299

 

[Shiloh]

306 cases: https://allafrica.com/stories/202004280967.html

 

[Shiloh]

480 cases; 16 deaths: https://www.nation.co.ke/news/afric...es-soar-to-480/1066-5537702-vk5dpu/index.html

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://allafrica.com/stories/202005080083.html

Tanzania: COVID-19 - Zanzibar Cases Rise to 134 After 29 Test Positive
7 May 2020
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
By The Citizen Reporter

Dar es Salaam — Zanzibar's cases of Covid-19 have reached 134, with 5 deaths, health minister Hamad Rashid Mohammed has confirmed today May 7.

In the latest update, which was the first since April 26, the ministry said that 29 new cases had had tested positive bringing the total number to 134 from the 105...

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Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/News/Nati...d-19-updates/688334-5545978-1l75hl/index.html

Tanzania explains silence over Covid-19 updates
Friday May 8 2020

In Summary

The laboratory's director, Dr Nyambura Moremi, and the quality assurance manager, Mr Jacob Lusekelo, remain suspended pending investigations, heightening concerns as to whether further results on tested samples would be released to the public.

Dr Haonga told The Citizen Thursday that people who have been tested for Covid-19 in the country are receiving results but he emphasized that the public release of the results will depend on whether there is enough data to issue out to the public.

By The Citizen

Today marks seven days since Tanzanian government last released results of samples tested for the coronavirus. Health authorities coordinating the Covid-19 fight say they are still working on a comprehensive report and that would determine when the results would be out.

Until Thursday, the only publicly available update on the state of Covid-19 in the country was a report issued Wednesday last week by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa which indicated that there were 480 confirmed cases of the viral disease with 16 deaths in Tanzania...

 

[Shiloh]

Covid-19: Tanzania updates will resume after improvements at national laboratory. Adding in 29 cases from Zanibar, total 509: https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/C...provements/1840340-5546520-6p8n9nz/index.html

 

[Shiloh]

US Embassy says Covid-19 threat in Tanzania's main city 'extremely high: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/13/africa/tanzania-coronavirus-us-embassy/index.html

 

[Shiloh]

Tanzania leader says virus cases down despite U.S. warning: https://www.570news.com/2020/05/17/tanzania-leader-says-virus-cases-down-despite-u-s-warning/

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...id-19-outbreak

Opposition politicians in Tanzania have accused president John Magufuli of covering up a major outbreak of Covid-19 in the east African country.

Magufuli has repeatedly played down the threat from the pandemic and refused to impose a strict lockdown as many other leaders on the continent have.

Instead the 60-year-old has encouraged the country’s 56 million inhabitants to keep working and socialising, while a key ally announced a three-day “corona party” in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital, this weekend to give thanks to God for what he claimed was a reduction in levels of infection.

Tanzanian authorities have not released official date on infections for nearly a month, despite requests from the World Health Organization (WHO). There were 480 confirmed cases with 16 deaths on 29 April.

However, the opposition politicians say they believe there have been more than 400 deaths in Dar es Salaam and between 16,000 and 20,000 cases nationwide, according to their own ongoing research.

“The government say there are no patients in the hospitals but we know of three hospitals in Dar es Salaam where the ICU beds are all completely full,” said Zitto Kabwe, leader of the Alliance for Change and Transparency.

 

[kiwibird]

https://sarkardaily.com/3-mps-die-of...t-in-tanzania/

DODOMA:Tanzania’s leading opposition party has called for a suspension of Parliament after three legislators died of unknown causes in the past 11 days.

Freeman Mbowe, chairman of the opposition Chadema party, has repeatedly accused the government of covering up the true extent of the coronavirus pandemic and implied the MPs had died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the pathogen.

...snip

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tanz...losure/1878753

ANKARA

All schools in Tanzania will reopen as of June 29 after three months of closure due to the novel coronavirus, local media reported quoting the country’s president.

The Monday’s announcement by President John Magufuli makes Tanzania the first country in East Africa to reopen schools, according to The Citizen local website.

Addressing the parliament on Monday, Magufuli said the decision was taken as the number of coronavirus infections “drastically dropped.”

On June 1, universities in the country resumed educational activities with hygiene rules put in place by the country’s Health Ministry.

...snip
There has not been an official increase in the number of cases since May 14th.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-he...-idUKKBN22F0TG - an article from May 3rd.

....Magufuli, whose government has already drawn criticism for being secretive about the coronavirus outbreak and has previously asked Tanzanians to pray the coronavirus away, said the kits had “technical errors”.

The COVID-19 testing kits had been imported from abroad, Magufuli said during an event in Chato in the north west of Tanzania, although he did not give further details.

The president said he had instructed Tanzanian security forces to check the quality of the kits. They had randomly obtained several non-human samples, including from a pawpaw, a goat and a sheep, but had assigned them human names and ages.
...

These samples were then submitted to Tanzania’s laboratory to test for the coronavirus, with the lab technicians left deliberately unaware of their origins.

Samples from the pawpaw and the goat tested positive for COVID-19, the president said, adding this meant it was likely that some people were being tested positive when in fact they were not infected by the coronavirus.

 

[kiwibird]

https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/07/03/w...down-minister/

With no new patients, 74 COVID-19 facilities in Tanzania shut down: minister

Tanzania’s health minister on Friday announced the government was shutting down 74 out of 85 designated COVID-19 facilities across the country for lack of patients.

The ministry said in a statement that Ummy Mwalimu announced the move after closing down a designated facility at Lulanzi in Kibaha district in Coast region.

“The last COVID-19 patient at this Lulanzi designated facility was discharged on May 26 and there is no patient that has been admitted to the facility until today,” she said.