By Priya Sippy,
NAIROBI Kenya
Just two months into her presidency, Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced some of Tanzania’s strictest Covid-19 measures since the pandemic first hit the country in March last year.
Early on, Hassan indicated a different approach to her
predecessor, the late John Magufuli. She spoke about Covid-19 during her first
presidential address, saying: “We cannot isolate ourselves as an island while
the world is moving in a different direction.”
Tanzania implemented very few measures against the
coronavirus pandemic last year.
Magufuli famously downplayed the threat of Covid-19,
despite activists and politicians signaling the alarm over a deadly second
wave, which hit the country at the beginning of this year.
Under Magufuli’s directive, herbal remedies were promoted,
the number of Covid cases ceased to be counted, and people were urged to pray
to defeat the virus.
This was a pivot from the country’s initial response, where
schools were shut and borders were closed for almost three months.
Hassan arrived in office on March 19, two days after the
death of Magufuli, which was attributed to heart complications. One of the
pressing questions surrounding her presidency was how she would approach the
pandemic.
Her recent directives are a measure of how different her
approach is to Magufuli’s, including the fact that she wore a mask on recent
visits to Uganda and Kenya.
But a recent
travel advisory, released by the Ministry of Health this week,
signifies increased caution over new virus strains. All travelers arriving from
countries with new Covid-19 variants, based on the WHO daily updates, or those
who have traveled through those countries in the last 14 days, will now have to
quarantine for two weeks.
Flights to and from India have been banned until further
notice. The Covid-19 variant from India has already been detected in Tanzania’s
neighboring countries, Kenya and Uganda.
Krisp, a South Africa-based research institute, recently
reported that the most
mutated Covid-19 variant yet was found in travelers from
Tanzania.
The announcement has placed stricter measures at the
country’s borders. For the first time, those entering Tanzania must provide a
negative Covid-19 PCR (lab) test. Those coming from countries with a high
number of cases must also take a rapid test on arrival.
Hassan’s border restrictions come one month declared she
had formed a
committee of experts to advise her on how to manage the pandemic.
However she has yet to comment on whether she will stick with Magufuli’s
decision not to procure Covid-19 vaccines for Tanzanians.
There has also been a minor shift in media reporting about
the pandemic, with journalists able to speak more freely.
Under Magufuli, several media
organizations were fined, and their licenses suspended over coverage
of the virus. At the beginning of April, Hassan instructed the Ministry of
Information to lift a ban on
online television outlets.
“Previously, there was an environment of fear and
censorship,” says Khalifa Said, an investigative journalist based in Dar es
Salaam. “That has changed with Hassan.
She has said she does not want her administration to be
accused of muzzling the media. This has helped to open up some spaces for
debate and discussion that were not there before.”
Hassan has also recognized the impact of the pandemic on
the economy, stating that the country’s “growth has dropped from
6.95% to 4.7% as a result of Covid-19.” The IMF predicts the country’s GDP will only
grow 2.7% this year.
A doctor at Tanzania’s national hospital, who wishes to
remain anonymous, said these new measures are a “good beginning.”
“Compared to the way we were handling it before, this is a
step in the right direction. Currently, we are seeing fewer cases in the
hospitals, but there is a definite risk that we could feel the effects of the
crisis in India.” - Quartz
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