Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has announced plans to reopen the country to foreign tourists without the requirement for mandatory COVID-19 quarantine. On a televised speech on Sunday, he said he plans to re-open universities and allow the resumption of sports and international flights if the decline in new coronavirus infections continues.
Unlike the East African neighbors who imposed lockdowns affecting much of the economic activities in major towns, Tanzania closed schools, stopped international flights and banned large gatherings but continued with their normal economic activities. John Pombe Magufuli, the Tanzanian president, directed the ministers of transport and Tourism to allow flights and said that tourists coming in the country will not be subjected to any form of coronavirus quarantine when they arrive. “There are a number of airlines which have booked flights for tourists up to August. They are coming because [they know the truth] and because Tanzania is a good country,” he remarked.
Magufuli also announced plans to re-open schools in the coming week adding that he intended to allow sporting activities to resume in the country following a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases.“In the coming week, I have planned to re open schools and also, as a country, I will allow sports to continue because it is a form of entertainment for Tanzanians,” Magufuli noted.
The Tanzanian leader who has over time dismissed the gravity of the highly contagious disease saying the number of cases in the country has reduced reiterated that he will not allow the disease which has disrupted greater economies across the world, to bring the East African nation at a standstill going further to say that one of his children who had contracted the disease had recovered after taking a concoction of lemon and ginger.
Tanzania has faced criticism from international health authorities including the World Health Organization (WHO) for being slow in imposing social distancing measures and lacking transparency in its approach to the pandemic.
