Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on Wednesday confirmed two more cases of COVID-19, bringing to three the total number of confirmed infections in the country.
In his address to the nation televised live by state-run Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, Majaliwa identified the new cases as nationals from the United States and Germany. Majaliwa said one case was confirmed in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and other one in the Zanzibar archipelago, located off the coast of mainland Tanzania. The official also announced the shutting down of universities and other higher learning institutions in the wake of the outbreak that has spread around the world.He called for heightened vigilance from all residents in Tanzania by continuing to observe the instructions of health authorities, particularly washing hands regularly, avoiding large gatherings, and limiting unnecessary movements.
Tanzanian Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu said in a statement that both new cases are now in self-isolation: a 24-year-old German man in Zanzibar and a 61-year-old American male in Dar es Salaam. Health officials are tracing the contacts of the American patient residing in Dar es Salaam, Mwalimu said in her statement, adding that an official statement about the German patient will be made by Zanzibar authorities. Tanzania has announced a ban on public gatherings and the shutting down of all nurseries, primary and secondary schools for 30 days beginning Tuesday. On Monday, Tanzania reported its first confirmed COVID-19 case, a Tanzanian woman who arrived in the country from Belgium by RwandAir on Sunday evening.
