Below is how the globalist mouthpiece, Devex, reports Tanzania’s
response to the coronavirus plandemic.
The report fails to address key issues which it glosses over: such as
samples from goats and papaya testing positive to coronavirus, and desperately
suggests that people living and enjoying their normal lives, as it was forced
to concur, are somehow suffering because they refused to lock down their Churches
and businesses. It insisted that local herbal treatments being used have not
been shown by “research” to be effective – referring, of course, to globalist’s
sanctioned research! Note that the globalists have been known to be at war even
with the WHO whenever that organization attempted to show a little autonomy and
go against the dictates of globalists “experts”.
In the conclusion, the authors of the article wistfully suggested that
even if Magufuli’s government wasn’t going to comply 100% with the globalists instructions to enforce a
lockdown, (which decision they also conceded might have been reasonable), “it
could have communicated its decision to avoid a lockdown in a more transparent
way;” by which is meant government should have entered into “discussions” with
the globalists and negotiate measures to take “while still keeping the economy
open.”
Thank God for a bold reasonable African leader in John Magufuli. May the LORD continue to protect Tanzania
even as we know the globalists would be looking for any means to discredit this
response that has clearly been of tremendous benefits to the people.
WE HAVE HIGHLIGHTED SOME KEY STATEMENTS IN CAPITAL LETTERS IN THE REPORT
WHICH IS PASTED BELOW. (Source: https://www.devex.com/news/muddled-messaging-around-covid-19-complicates-response-in-tanzania-97590?access_key=&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newswire&utm_campaign=top&utm_content=title&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWWpRd1lqTTVORFptTkRVMyIsInQiOiI1bFJGWlRJaUZWZEhnOFJ0Zk1qR2ZLempZZHZCcGJESVd5MlVNbkdvdDJOS3pjcEsxaWF1YXdnTHpBU1hjR0JGS09pa1FXTVwvNFVjaVpSS2dsVG9JSlIxTk1aaE1WaldrR1owb1VxMWNiZXJiU3ZualFpbEpxUDRPdElGSWhxZXMifQ%3D%3D)
·
COVID-19
Muddled
messaging around COVID-19 complicates response in Tanzania
John Magufuli, president of Tanzania.
Photo by: Paul
Kagame / CC BY-NC-ND
NAIROBI/WASHINGTON — When John Peters, who lives in Dar es Salaam,
tested positive for COVID-19 in
mid-May, it was about two weeks after the Tanzanian government stopped
reporting cases to the World Health Organization.
Others all around him also started getting sick. He personally knows
about 25 people who tested positive.
After he received the results — about a week after he was tested — he
was not asked for the names of the people he had been in contact with over the
past few weeks to enable contact tracing. But Peters, whose name has been
changed to avoid retribution from the government, was asked to sign a form
saying he would stay home for 14 days.
Around this same time, there were reports of
many hospitals in Dar es Salaam becoming overwhelmed, and three members of
Parliament died
in the span of 11 days of unknown causes — all raising
suspicions that the government was covering up its COVID-19 caseload with its
decision to not release figures.
WHILE SOME BUSINESSES DID CLOSE, AND THE GOVERNMENT SHUT SCHOOLS AND
BANNED MASS GATHERINGS AT WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS, A FULL ECONOMIC LOCKDOWN WAS
NEVER IMPLEMENTED.
In recent months, Tanzanian President John Magufuli has repeatedly
minimized the risks of COVID-19, and he announced in June that God had removed
the coronavirus from Tanzania. This has created a complicated environment for
organizations focused on health communications to navigate as they work to
educate communities about how to deal with the ongoing pandemic.
“This is a government in denial,” said Judd Devermont, director of the
Africa program at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. “If you are an organization that is focused
on preventing COVID cases from spreading and the government says there are no
more COVID cases or is unwilling to share any information, how do you operate
in that space?”
Tanzania has not reported
a new case of COVID-19 to WHO for two and a half months —
the longest gap in reporting from any country in Africa. The count stands at
509 cases and 21 deaths.
COVID-19 likened to Satan and goats
tested
Tanzania, in some ways, started to lay the groundwork for an effective
COVID-19 response in the months leading up to the pandemic.
In September, there were unofficial reports of people suffering from
Ebola-like symptoms in the country. But while the government said that these
people tested negative for the Ebola virus, it refused to provide
WHO with requested information to further verify this.
But the risk of Ebola spreading to Tanzania from the outbreak in
neighboring Congo led the government to convene its national task force on
emergencies to prepare prevention and response mechanisms, including a
committee on risk communication and community engagement, according to sources.
WHEN COVID-19 HIT, THESE STRUCTURES WERE IN PLACE, READY TO RESPOND TO
THE NEW THREAT. THE GOVERNMENT GALVANIZED TO DISTRIBUTE PREVENTION MESSAGING
WITH ITS PARTNERS.
AT THE START, THINGS WERE HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, SOURCES TOLD
DEVEX. BUT THEN THE MESSAGING FROM THE TOP OF THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN TO CHANGE.
AT THE END OF MARCH, MAGUFULI ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO CONTINUE
VISITING PLACES OF WORSHIP — A MOVE THAT BUCKED INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS — while comparing the virus to Satan and saying that
it “cannot survive in the body of Jesus Christ.”
THEN IN MAY, THE PRESIDENT CAST DOUBT ON THE DATA AROUND CASES BY
SUGGESTING THAT PEOPLE WHO TEST POSITIVE MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY BE INFECTED. HE
SAID HE SECRETLY
TESTED A PAPAYA, A GOAT, AND A QUAIL FOR COVID-19 — ALL TESTING
POSITIVE — TO PROVE HIS POINT.
He also questioned the
safety of imported masks, stopped the disinfection of public places, AND TOUTED AN
HERBAL REMEDY AS A CURE FOR COVID-19, WHICH RESEARCH HAS NOT PROVED EFFECTIVE.
Then on June 9, Magufuli declared that “Corona
in our country has been removed by the powers of God.” Celebrations followed.
He reiterated that
COVID-19 was eliminated from Tanzania in a speech on Monday.
"OUR ENEMIES WILL SPEAK A LOT, BUT THE REALITY REMAINS THAT
TANZANIA IS SAFE AND THAT IS WHY NONE OF US HERE IS PUTTING ON A MASK. DOES IT
MEAN WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF DYING? NO, IT IS BECAUSE CORONA HAS BEEN ELIMINATED,”
HE SAID.
NOW, LIFE HAS LARGELY RETURNED TO NORMAL IN TANZANIA, SOURCES TELL
DEVEX. SCHOOLS HAVE REOPENED, MANY PEOPLE ARE WALKING AROUND WITHOUT MASKS, AND
THE GOVERNMENT HAS CLOSED MANY OF ITS COVID-19
CENTERS.
“IF YOU WENT INTO A COMA LAST YEAR AND YOU WOKE UP RIGHT NOW IN DAR ES
SALAAM, YOU WOULD THINK THAT LIFE IS NORMAL,” PETERS SAID.
While the government stopped reporting cases to WHO at the end of April, the
health agency and other partners continue to provide the Tanzanian
government with technical support on its response, including on case
management, infection prevention and control, surveillance and laboratory
strengthening, risk communication and community engagement, and logistics,
according to an email from WHO.
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Confusing narratives, ineffective
messaging
The president’s messaging on the pandemic, along with the Ministry of Health’s
failure to approve messaging around COVID-19 for groups to use, was a “massive
blow” to organizations working to educate populations on protecting themselves
from the spread of the virus, said a health communications expert, who wished
to remain anonymous due to concerns around publicly criticizing the government.
“The wind is very much out of the sails of the health communications
sector,” the expert said. “There is a very steep hill now because there are
counternarratives that are more attractive and louder. The population must be
just completely confused.”
One of the problems is that the measures that are recommended — washing
hands, wearing masks, and social distancing — are inconvenient and can be
expensive for people living in poverty. It can be hard to convince a population
of the importance of taking these inconvenient measures to combat a disease if
they do not understand how many people in the country are infected and their
personal risk of contracting the virus, sources said.
Civil society groups are in a tricky position because of the shrinking
space for them in Tanzania under Magufuli and the need to act in accordance
with government messaging, said Mwanahamisi Salimu Singano, a Tanzanian
development expert. Now that the government has said the COVID-19 outbreak is
over in the country, they are pressured to accept this.
Some of these groups would have likely played a significant role in an
inclusive response to the pandemic that would reach vulnerable communities,
such as people living with disabilities, she said.
"There is less conversation now, whether in a civil society space
or an individual space, that there is COVID-19 in Tanzania — which makes now
the response to be almost impossible," she said. "Most people went
back to business as usual. That is where we are at in Tanzania, in my
sense."
In the absence of data on case count, it is also difficult for
organizations to effectively target their programs, sources told Devex.
“Without guidance, there's no light to guide you in terms of how you
allocate limited resources to do the greatest good,” CSIS’ Devermont said.
Balancing risks, improving
communication
SOURCES TOLD DEVEX THAT THERE DO APPEAR TO BE FEWER CASES OF COVID-19 IN
TANZANIA NOW THAN IN THE INITIAL MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC.
While it is uncertain whether this is true or why that might be, sources
told Devex about some theories. Perhaps people have developed some level of
immunity after months of spiking cases — although a growing
body of research suggests that any immunity among people who
had COVID-19 is short-lived.
There is also speculation that people with COVID-19 symptoms are no
longer getting tested, due to the lack of government emphasis and the
population’s feeling that the pandemic is under control, Singano said.
AS FOR THE GOVERNMENT’S APPROACH OVERALL, SOME SOURCES TOLD DEVEX THAT
THE DECISION TO AVOID A FULL LOCKDOWN MIGHT HAVE MADE SENSE IN THE TANZANIAN
CONTEXT.
A LOCKDOWN IS INTENDED TO SPACE OUT THE NUMBER OF INFECTIONS AT ANY
GIVEN TIME SO THAT A COUNTRY’S HEALTH SYSTEM CAN COPE WITH THE CASELOAD, SAID RISHA
CHANDE, DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY AND ENGAGEMENT AT TWAWEZA, A
TANZANIAN ORGANIZATION FOCUSED ON ENHANCING SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT.
“YOU MIGHT EVEN BE FLATTENING THE CURVE FOR 10 YEARS WITHOUT MAKING IT
POSSIBLE FOR OUR HEALTH SECTOR TO COPE IF OUR CASELOAD AND SEVERITY HAD BEEN
COMPARABLE TO THE U.S. AND THE U.K.,” SHE ADDED.
GIVEN THE LIMITED UTILITY OF A LOCKDOWN, THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES MIGHT
NOT BE WORTH IT. BUT EVEN SO, SOURCES SAID, THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT COULD HAVE
COMMUNICATED ITS DECISION TO AVOID A LOCKDOWN IN A MORE TRANSPARENT WAY. THIS
COULD HAVE INVOLVED DISCUSSIONS AROUND PROTECTING VULNERABLE POPULATIONS WHILE
STILL KEEPING THE ECONOMY OPEN.
“A coherent line could have emerged, which would maybe not be all that
different than the practice in Tanzania, which is to say: ‘Honestly, folks,
we're not going to lock down because we have an economy that’s not up to it.
But here are some things that you can do in your own lives that can help you to
be safer,’” the communications expert, who wished not to be named, told Devex.
Update, July 21, 2020: This article has been updated to include comments made by President
Magufuli on July 20.
