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US warns its citizens in Tanzania of the risk of contracting COVID-19

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The United States government has issued a health alert to its citizens in Tanzania following the lack of current data on confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the country. The US embassy in Tanzania in a statement says that the risk of contracting the disease in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam is extremely high.

In Kenya, health officials reported that 23 Tanzanian truck drivers tested positive for the coronavirus along the Kenya -Tanzania border. These latest developments come just a day after Tanzania’s President Dr. John Pombe Magufuli snubbed a virtual East African Community Heads of State Summit called to assess the region’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The statement from the US Embassy in Tanzania warned that despite the limited information from Tanzania, evidence points to an exponential growth of the virus in the country, especially in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

According to the statement, hospitals there have in recent weeks been overwhelmed. The statement advised its citizens in Tanzania to remain indoors. In Kenya, health officials continued with tests along the borders with Tanzania, targeting truck drivers.

East African Community leaders on Tuesday held a virtual summit in which they agreed to test truck drivers and issue them with a pass similar to the Yellow Fever certificate. Tanzania and Burundi skipped the meeting . Zambia on Monday closed its border with Tanzania after the country witnessed a spike in coronavirus numbers on its border with Tanzania.

In the video below, Tanzania’s opposition party leader Zitto Kabwe says the government is in denial about COVID-19: 

 

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