Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday said it is not proper to ignore the COVID-19 pandemic, hinting at a change in the offing to the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, reported Africa News.
“It is not proper to ignore it. We cannot reject or accept it without any evidence from research,” Hassan told her newly appointed permanent secretaries at a swearing-in ceremony in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.
Hassan announced that she would form an expert coronavirus task force to advise her government on the steps to take in the fight against coronavirus, and canvass global opinion on the pandemic.
“They [experts] will tell us more about the pandemic, and advise us about what the world is proposing. We cannot accept everything as it comes, but we also cannot isolate ourselves as an island while the world is moving in a different direction,” the Tanzanian president said.
Hassan became the first female president of Tanzania last month following the death of John Magufuli. Who had dismissed the coronavirus pandemic threat saying God and steam remedies would protect Tanzanians. He opposed the wearing of masks and social distancing and denounced vaccines.
The extent of COVID-19 in Tanzania currently remains unknown, as Magufuli’s government stopped counting cases and deaths in the early days of the pandemic.
Tanzania has not reported coronavirus data since May last year. The World Health Organization (WHO) repeatedly urged the Tanzanian government to be more transparent but there was no update.
Hassan has, however, vowed to “start where Magufuli ended”
“We cannot be reading about COVID-19 in the world and when you reach sections about Tanzania, one find[s] gaps. I think we need to be clearer whether we accept or not,” she said.
Hassan said the people of Tanzania need to understand where the country stands on the issue of Covid-19. No Covid vaccines have arrived in the country to date. The president also directed the information ministry to reopen media houses closed during her predecessor’s reign.
