AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government yesterday received more domestic and international donations in support of the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
While Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa received contributions worth 6.226bn/- from various stakeholders in the country, the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania donated medical supplies to support the anti-coronavirus crusade.
The medical kits donated by the Chinese embassy, in collaboration with Chinese businessmen, included face masks, protective clothes and forehead thermometers.
Receiving the donations in Dodoma yesterday, Prime Minister, Mr Majaliwa thanked the stakeholders for supporting the government’s efforts to combat the deadly disease.
He called upon Tanzanians to continue cooperating with the government in curbing further spread of the Coronavirus.
As of yesterday, Tanzania had reported 24 cases of Covid-19. Five patients have made full recovery and discharged to join their families. One succumbed to the contagion.
396 people remain under quarantine in various places in the country, including foreigners, in line with the mandatory 14 days quarantine.
“The government is continuing with various efforts to fight Covid-19, including enhancing public education on preventive measures.
It is good if members of the public will also pay attention to advices issued by health experts on the matter,” he said.
The contributions came from Twiga Minerals Corporation (4bn/-), business tycoon Rostam Aziz (1bn/-), Taifa Gas (100m/-), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) 79m/- and Puma Energy which donated 50,000 litres of fuel. Others are Huawei Technologies, which donated video conferencing tools and Thermal Imaging Temperature Measuring system worth 940m/-.
Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Ms Wang Ke, meanwhile, presented to the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ms Ummy Mwalimu in Dar es Salaam medical supplies including 100,000 face masks, 1,000 protective clothes and 150 forehead thermometers.
The supplies were organized jointly by the Embassy and two Chinese firms namely Hunan Donfang Jinxi International Corporation Limited and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).
Speaking at the event, the ambassador revealed that a group of Chinese companies in Tanzania has also funded the construction of isolation and admission centres in Arusha.
She said the donation is in response to the request of the Tanzanian government and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.
“One of the important experiences China has obtained from its fight against the Covid-19 is that no matter how vicious the virus is, solidarity stands as the key to our victory against it,” she said.
According to the envoy, another batch of supplies including 500 ventilators issued by Chinese businessman Jack Ma through his Alibaba foundation is expected to arrive anytime next week.
Receiving the supplies, Ms Mwalimu said the kits will be distributed with immediate effects to the hospitals as the government focus is to protect health specialists from being contaminated by patients.
“We thank the China embassy for the support as it is really helpful for us, this fight of Covid-19 needs collaborative efforts from all stakeholders,” she said.
She also instructed all public and private hospitals to allocate isolation centres for suspects of the novel coronavirus, in order to control further spread of Covid-19 in the country.
According to Ms Mwalimu, the Prime Minister Mr Majaliwa will write a letter of appreciation on behalf of the government to the Chinese business mogul, Jack Ma for his gracious and continued support to the country.
“With the continued support, now we can start putting thermos scanners at the domestic arrivals as right now, the scanners are at the arrival point of the international passengers,” noted the minister.
