Tanzania Admits to Third Covid-19 Wave, But Still Gives No Data

(Bloomberg) -- Tanzanian President Samia Hassan publicly admitted for the first time the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic in the East African country, in a departure from the denialism of her predecessor.

“We have already detected patients in the country during this third wave,” she told clerics in the commercial hub of Dar es Salaam, without disclosing numbers.

Discussing or disclosing information on the disease was taboo under her predecessor, John Magufuli, who died in March. During a visit to a Dar es Salaam hospital earlier in June, the head doctor showed Hassan a closed ward that he said was for patients with “breathing difficulties,” she said.

“It’s only after I ordered him to open when he admitted that they were Covid patients,” Hassan said. “This problem still exists. We should not ignore it.”

Tanzania has not published any Covid-19 data for about a year and the International Monetary Fund has said it will only discuss the nation’s request for $571 million funding when the government resumes disclosing numbers on the pandemic.

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