Tanzania pledges to release Covid-19 numbers weekly
Tanzania will avail Covid-19 statistics on a weekly basis and has urged members of the public to adhere to recommended coronavirus prevention measures.
This is according Health Minister Dr Dorothy Gwajima, who told journalists in Dar es Salaam that the weekly release of Covid-19 numbers is a confirmation that the virus is a public health concern in the country.
However, Tanzania submitted its last report on the virus to the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 3, 2021, when the country indicated there were 25,846 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 719 deaths.
But increasingly, the country has come under pressure to publish data on the spread of coronavirus as part of conditional approval of a $574 million emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Previously, the government of late President John Magufuli, in which Dr Gwajima served as Health Minister, denied the presence of Covid-19 in the country.
But speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Dr Gwajima said Covid-19 data is now available as per WHO requirements.
She said the statistics will be availed online and on the WHO website instead of through press conferences.
“It is not possible to conduct a press conference every day to brief reporters. Through the WHO website, we update the statistics weekly for everyone to access.”
She further urged the public to get vaccinated to avoid suffering from severe forms of the disease or death.
As of October 2, a total of 595,938 vaccine doses had been administered to Tanzanians. The government is expecting to receive 489,042 doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China.
Dr Gwajima confirmed that the vaccines would arrive in the country on Friday. She said that another consignment of 576,558 doses is expected this month from the Covax facility.
Tanzania launched mass vaccinations in late July after receiving slightly over a million doses of Johnson and Johnson jabs donated by the US. President Samia Suluhu kicked off the exercise by publicly receiving her first jab, signalling a turnaround for a country that only months before was in denial about the pandemic.
By The Citizen
