Plane loads of tourists aboard Ethiopian, KLM and Turkish airlines are expected to land in Tanzania in the next one week, marking a critical milestone in the on-going re-opening of the country’s economy following nearly two months of lockdown.
The country’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, hotels and schools are all heeding President John Magufuli’s directive to re-open the entire economy following what he termed as significantly reduced cases of coronavirus patients in the country.
The president, in a public address in the capital city, Dodoma, said there is no longer a need to curtail economic activity while hospitals across Tanzania had empty beds having discharged nearly all Covid-19 positive patients after they tested negative for the virus.
Among the six East African Community member countries, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have the strictest travel restrictions while Burundi and South Sudan have also issued public health advisories to curb the spread of the virus.
Ummy Mwalimu, the Tanzania Health Minister, said in a statement on May 18, that they had eased the country’s travel advisory “following a decreased trend of admitted Covid-19 cases in the country”.
