AfricaPress-Tanzania: LONGIDO District Commissioner (DC), Frank Mwaisumbe has warned pastoralist communities living along Namanga Border against travelling to Kenya when the world was grappling with the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Speaking recently, Mr Mwaisumbe said he was aware of the Maasai practice of crossing the border to the neighbouring country to greet relatives and friends and warned them of doing so at this time the region was battling with the deadly virus.
“I know how the Maasai of both countries have a lot in common. However, this is not the right time to visit your friends. If anything, you should stay home and avoid any unnecessary movements,” noted the DC recently at Oriendeke Village in Longido District.
He also appealed to Oriendeke villagers to take precautionary measures and adhere to prescribed (Covid-19) technical guidelines to help keep them safe from new infections.
“Wash your hands frequently with soap and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth and most importantly, don’t cough or sneeze into your hands,” he counselled.
Towards the end of December 2019, Chinese public health authorities reported several cases of acute respiratory syndrome in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
The initial outbreak in Wuhan spread rapidly, affecting other parts of the country. Cases were soon detected in several other countries. Outbreaks and clusters of the disease have since been observed in Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa and North, Central and South America.
At least 1,792,768 (according to worldometers.info) had contracted the deadly virus by yesterday 11:34am, with 109,785 succumbing to it, while 411,536 others were reported to have recovered from Covid-19.
The outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020.
