NAIROBI, Kenya, May 18 – Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has announced plans to reopen the country to foreign tourists without the requirement for mandatory COVID-19 quarantine.
Magufuli made the announcement when he addressed a religious gathering on Sunday, directing the ministries of Transport and Tourism to facilitate international flights adding airlines had made bookings until up until August.
“I have directed the ministers of transport and Tourism to allow those flights and they (tourists) will not be subjected to any form of corona virus quarantine when they arrive. If their temperature is okay and they have no sighs of corona virus, they should be allowed to go and visit the wildlife,” he said.
“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.
Magufuli who claimed one of his children who had contracted the disease had recovered after taking a concoction of lemon and ginger.
“We will not allow coronavirus to control us. God is in control, we have worst and similar diseases like HIV/AIDS. If we shut down our economy, we will not even pay salaries,” he said while asserting that he will not place the country under lockdown
Early May, Magufuli ordered a probe on the country’s influenza laboratory citing possible interference by unnamed western powers.
Magufuli claimed some animal, fruit and oil samples disguised as human samples had tested positive for the virus raising questions on the credibility of the country’s influenza laboratory.
“We extracted a sample from a goat which turned positive. This tells you that something is not adding up,” he stated.
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