THE government has appealed to the general public to be extra vigilant while protecting themselves from the threat of the new coronavirus which has currently ravaged part of China and East Asia.
While there haven’t been any reported cases of the killer virus in Tanzania, the government said it will not take anything to chance, urging the public to take health precautions such as avoiding getting in contact with persons with respiratory problems.
“There’s a big Chinese community in the country for businesses and other activities, it is therefore important to step up our vigilance,” appealed the government through a statement released by the Ministry of Health on Friday.
In the same vein, the government assured that it was closely monitoring developments on the outbreak of 2019- nCoV, stating that it had stepped up surveillance for coronavirus at all its ports of entry.
“This involves screening of passengers using our entry and exit ports,” said the government.
The Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children said it will embark on drawing and testing blood samples from persons feared to have contracted the infection.
It added that it will keep all regional medical officers up to date on the latest developments regarding the killer virus as well as disseminating to them the right information and guidance against the disease.
“We will also set up quarantine and isolated areas for screening and first hand treatment for infected people,” asserted the ministry through the statement.
On Thursday, Minister in charge of Public Health Dr Faustine Ndugulile said the thermal scanners installed at the country’s point of entry and exit had the capacity of scanning more than 100 people at ago.
The infection, whose symptoms include a running nose, headache, cough, sore throat and a fever is said to have originated from the Chinese centre city of Wuhan.
As of Friday, there had been more than 830 people infected with the killer virus with 25 deaths recorded.
While the vast bulk of cases have been confined to China, cases in this fast-moving outbreak have now been found in the United States, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Macau, Japan and the Philippines.
Fourteen people are being tested in the United Kingdom.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was “too early” to declare an international public health emergency over the outbreak “given its restrictive and binary nature”.
Speaking at a press conference, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-general of the WHO, said: “Make no mistake; this is an emergency in China.” “But it has not yet become a global health emergency. It may yet become one,” he added.
