COVID-19 UPDATE: Tanzania Free-President.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Tanzania Free-President.

President John Pombe Magufuli of Tanzania has declared his country Covid-19 free following recent reports from his ministry of health. He has called upon Tanzanians to stop wearing face masks because they might be used to infect them with Covid-19. Speaking during the Chama cha Walimu Tanzania (CWT) conference, he urged Tanzanians to pray and trust God for having given them victory over the global pandemic.

“Corona imekwisha. Juzi nimemsikia waziri wa afya akisema Dar es Salaam kumebaki wangonjwa wanne pekee. Nyinyi hapa Ndugu zangu Walimu sioni yeyote amevaa barakoa. Hakuna corona. Hata leo tunaonana tu hapa kawaida. Juzi nilimshangaa kumwona spika amekaa pekee kwa kiti chake bungeni na amevaa barakoa. Anapokuletea mtu barakoa, kataa. Mwambie kavae wewe na mke wako na watoto wako huku nyumbani kwako. Tumuombe Mungu na tumwaminie tu yeye.

(Corona is over. I recently heard the minister for health say we only have 4 patients remaining in Dar es Salaam. My fellow teachers I don’t see anyone of you wearing a face mask. It’s because there is no corona. That is why today we are freely interacting without face masks. I was shocked to see the speaker sitting alone in his chamber in parliament and wearing a mask. If someone brings you a face mask refuse it. Tell the person to wear it at his home with his wife and children)” said president John Magufuli during the CWT Conference.

Magufuli who has been criticized widely for his unique way of handling covid-19 expressed his disappointment with leaders like the speaker for continuing to wear face masks. He praised teachers who attended the conference for not wearing face masks stating that people can use such items to infect Tanzanians with covid-19. President Magufuli stated that the 3 days’ national prayer worked. He called upon Tanzanians to put God first.

Speaking during the same conference, president Magufuli announced plans to reopen all schools in the country. He had initially directed that colleges and universities to be reopened. Magufuli noted that his government is assessing the situation with intentions to reopen all remaining schools from nursery, primary and secondary schools in the coming few weeks.

President Magufuli challenged Tanzanians to always stand their grounds and defend what they believe in even if everyone else is going the other direction. Using himself as an example, he explained to teachers how many countries are blindly following how western countries are handling covid-19 without assessing the reality in their own countries. Magufuli rebuked initial reports by western media that thousands of Africans will die of Covid-19 calling upon them to take notes from his country. He acknowledged the mighty hand of God in the fight against covid-19 noting that is all it took for him to beat this pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives in western countries.