George Russell in New York
The World Health Organization has pleaded with Tanzania to take more measures to control the coronavirus pandemic as more than nine months have passed since the east African nation provided any update on cases.
John Magafuli, Tanzania’s president, last year declared the country “coronavirus free” but doctors and health officials are sceptical.
The Zanzibar regional government announced that its first vice-president Seif Sharif Hamad died on February 17 as a result of Covid-19.
One of Magafuli’s closest advisers, John Kijazi, died the next day, officially of a heart attack, but at his funeral Magafuli led prayers to defeat unnamed “respiratory diseases” ravaging the country. “Maybe we have wronged God somewhere. Let us all repent,” he told mourners.
Tanzania has reported 509 cases with 21 deaths among its 58m people, but has not released any data since May 2020. Neighbouring Kenya, with a population of…