USA issues a HEALTH ALERT in Tanzania, says Dar Es Salaam hospitals overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases

USA issues HEALTH alert in Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam hospitals overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases. A statement from the US Embassy in Tanzania that the ongoing global outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) as identified in Wuhan, China, poses a very high public health threat while noting that on March 16, 2020, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health announced a confirmed case of COVID-19.

The statement says that the Government of Tanzania has implemented enhanced screening and quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, travelers should be prepared for unexpected travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice emphasizing that there are flight cancellations and increasingly limited flight availability.

"Individuals suspected of having COVID-19 may face travel delays, quarantine, and high medical costs...Effective March 17, 2020 the U.S. Embassy Dar es Salaam has suspended routine consular services." reads the statement in part.

President Pombe Magufuli of Tanzania.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Earlier in the month, Tanzania's President John Magufuli had dismissed imported coronavirus testing kits as faulty, saying they returned positive samples taken from a goat and a pawpaw.

He said there were "technical errors" with the tests and thus questioned the reporting of positive cases in the country.