Tanzania: PM Speaks Tough On Lies Peddlers

By Deogratius Kamagi

PEDDLERS of fake COVID-19 information in the country are in hot water after the government insisted no one would be spared of stern legal measures once found guilty of the

offence.

So far, three people have been held accountable for propagating fake news on the deadly contagion, including the man who shared a hoax that the government was intending to open schools and colleges last week.

The post appeared to contradict the government's decision to impose a 30-day closure of all schools and colleges in the country from the 17th and 18th of this month, respectively.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa urged the public to refrain from peddling false news, insisting at the weekend that the government would continue to take stern actions against all of the offenders according to the laws.

He confirmed that the person who claimed that schools and colleges were going to open last week, had been arrested and will be charged in court of law.

The Premier made the remarks when touring the isolation centre for suspects of COVID-19, in Kibaha District, Coastal region.

Only recently, a couple was arrested in a commuter bus in Dar es Salaam after claiming that the government has run out of money to feed students, and so was using the COVID-19 as a cover up to close schools, colleges and universities.

Mr Majaliwa maintained that any information about the pandemic will be issued by the relevant authorities including the Prime minister, the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu and the Chief government spokesperson Dr Hassan Abbasi.

At the isolation centre, Mr Majaliwa expressed his satisfaction with the preparations put in place to limit further spread of the pandemic in the country.

As part of efforts to curb the spread, the government has ordered mandatory 14-day quarantine to whoever coming to Tanzania from countries that have been affected by coronavirus. "While in quarantines, they will be tested for COVID-19 daily to ascertain their condition.

If they are tested negative for 14 days consecutively, they will be allowed to join their families," said the premier.

The prime minister reminded Tanzanians to always adhere to recommended preventive measures, including hand washing with soap and clean water every time.

"People should also avoid mass gathering and overcrowding in buses-as that would help avoid direct body contacts that increase the chances of contracting the virus," the PM noted.

He reiterated the importance of social distancing among people whenever they go for any service at shops or markets. So far, 14 people in Tanzania have tested positive for coronavirus out of 273 who were taken samples for testing in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

Globally, there are around 678,000 cases with over 32,000 deaths, while the number of those who have recovered stands at 146,319. High death rate is in Italy and Spain.

While Italy confirmed 889 new coronavirus deaths, raising the coronavirus fatality toll to 10,023, Spain's death toll increased to 6,528 as of mid yesterday. The figures were expected to go up later on the day.