ARUSHA Regional Commissioner, Mr Mrisho Gambo, yesterday refuted claims that a Chinese national who had shown signs of Coronavirus was being quarantined in one of the hotels in the region.
Through an online post, Mr Gambo dismissed reports that a tourist from China, an epicenter of the deadly virus, had checked in at Rivertrees Country Inn, a facility located in the country’s tourism hub.
“We’ve visited the hotel and liaised with its administration to ascertain the truth behind the reports…as it stands, we’ve not had any case of a person put under any sort of quarantine,” he clarified.
Mr Gambo further assured the general public and potential tourists visiting the region that his office remained vigilant in the wake of the threats brought by COVID-19, adding that it will continue working closely with the health ministry in screening visitors arriving from countries worse hit by the disease that had inflicted pain and misery on over 83,000 people worldwide.
Moments after the regional commissioner’s clarification, the management of the tourist facility also released a statement to counter reports that an infected person had booked in their hotel. Rivertrees Country Inn Director, Mr Kyle F. Harlow, said the facility was aware of the ‘unfounded rumors’ linking the hotel to the current outbreak of the COVID-19 disease.
“We would like to firmly state, that these rumors are completely untrue and are not based on fact,” he said. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been zero confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tanzania as of February 28th 2020.
Nonetheless, hopes that the coronavirus would be contained to China seem to fade away as Nigeria became the latest sub-Saharan Africa to report a case on the deadly virus, which has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 people worldwide.
On Friday, a coronavirus scare gripped Narok East Sub- County in Kenya as six Chinese nationals involved in a construction project were put on 14-day quarantine.
The country’s president Mr Uhuru Kenyatta has issued an executive order directing that the 120-bed ward at Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi to be used as an isolation centre for coronavirus cases be completed within the next seven days.
He further ordered that isolation and treatment facilities be set up in all Level Five and referral hospitals across the country by March 15, 2020.
