Coronavirus: Tanzania summons US ambassador over Covid-19 statement

Imprimer

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, May 28 (Infosplusgabon) -  Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation has summoned the acting US ambassador to Tanzania, Dr Inmi Patterson, demanding clarification over statements made by the mission regarding coronavirus (Covid-19) situation in the African country.

 

The US embassy has been posting on its website and social media platforms about the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by the Tanzanian government.

 

A statement issued on Tuesday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, said Dr Patterson heeded the call and met with the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Wilbert Ipuge.

 

“On Wednesday 13 May, 2020, and on Monday, 25 May, 2020, on the embassy’s Twitter page, which all seemed to be intended to alert US citizens in Tanzania and those who intend to visit the country that Dar es Salaam is not safe due to the presence of a large number of Covid-19 patients,” reads the ministry’s statement in part.

 

The statement further noted that the embassy warnings also claimed that many hospitals in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, were overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients, the assertion which was not true and which was likely to cause distress to Tanzanians and foreign nationals.

 

The permanent secretary cautioned the US envoy on the importance of the embassy to provide certified information, especially the government does not have any restrictions on ambassadors seeking and obtaining accurate and actual information.

 

Tanzania’s Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, announced on Sunday that the number of Covid-19 patients in the country has continued to decline, with most quarantine centers now empty.

 

Majaliwa, who was speaking during Eid el Fitr prayers in Dar es Salaam, said there were only three patients in the commercial capital, 16 in Kibaha, Coast Region, while a center in Dodoma had only three patients.

 

Remaining centers had one patient each while others had none.

 

Following the decline in the number of Civid-19 cases, President John Pombe Magufuli announced last week the re-opening of universities from 1 June, 2020, and allowed sporting activities to resume.

 

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AOD/GABON2020

 

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