COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania | |
---|---|
Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Tanzania |
First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
Index case | Arusha |
Arrival date | 16 March 2020 (4 years, 3 months, 2 weeks and 3 days) |
Confirmed cases | 43,226[1] |
Recovered | 42,232[2] |
Deaths | 846[1] |
Government website | |
www |
The COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Tanzania in March 2020.[3]
The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in The United Republic Of Tanzania uses the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy to monitor reportable diseases and conditions to detect and respond to the leading causes of illness, death, and disabilities.[4] Subsequently, reports of the spread of the virus have been actively gathered over the years and relevant policies put in place as situations unfold.
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[5][6]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[7][8] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[9][7]
In May 2020, Fatma Karume, a human rights activist, said authorities are discouraging people from going to hospitals to avoid overwhelming them, but they are not giving adequate guidance about the virus. Karume said: "When you are disempowering a whole nation by withholding information and creating doubt on how they should respond to the crisis, the outcome can be disastrous."[10]
COVID-19 related news are censored as misinformation or disinformation. The distribution of non-governmental information has been made into a criminal offence by the government.[11] The government released a list of qualified persons to educate the public about COVID-19, and directed that all media source information only from those on the list. Multiple individuals were arrested and fined because of spreading information about COVID-19.[12] The lack of transparency and restricted freedoms have drawn criticism from Reporters Without Borders.[13]
However, on 28 June 2021, President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced COVID-19 statistics to the public for the first time since May 2020, with 100 new cases in Tanzania and 70 people are in a critical state on ventilators.[14]