Arusha on high alert as East African Community registers COVID-19 case

Arusha. The city of Arusha, the country’s tourism hub, is on high alert over coronavirus effects after reported cases in neighbouring Kenya and Rwanda.

Earlier there was a scare when reports claimed a patient had been quarantined at Mawenzi hospital in Moshi town.

But the ministry of health released a statement later, insisting that no patient had so far been confirmed to have tested positive for the viral disease. An arriving visitor from Europe via Nairobi who had a high temperature was released after tests cleared him.

Rwanda confirmed its first case of coronavirus yesterday in an Indian national who arrived last week from Mumbai, according to the health ministry.

In Kenya, where the first case in the EAC bloc was confirmed on Friday, 22 people who were in close contact with the infected person have been quarantined at Mbagathi Hospital, the government there confirmed.

Due to cross border interactions with Kenya, Arusha city health officials have been busy instructing hotel workers on how to handle visitors from abroad.

“We are worried because coronavirus is already here”, said Walter Maeda, a hotelier told The Citizen. Maeda who is the chairperson of the regional chapter of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), said there were reasons why Arusha should be on high alert.

“Some of our traditional guests are from Kenya while a significant number of foreign tourists come through Kenya”, he pointed out.

In a bid to enhance surveillance and preparedness, the city health workers on Wednesday assembled hotel workers and briefed them on simple rules to counter COVID-19. These included the waiters and receptionists, the kitchen and restaurant staff and those working in the laundry and cleaning areas.

“Some of them have been instructed to wear masks and boots depending on their sections”, said Maeda, who is the director of Golden Rose Hotels.

He said the number of visitors has been declining for the last couple of weeks. Tourism stakeholders intimated the epidemic would deal a big blow to the leading forex generating sector even though no case has been reported in the country.

On Thursday, Air Tanzania announced it would lose between two and three per cent income due to losses associated with COVID-19. Weekly flights to Mumbai, India have been cancelled while planned chartered flights to China, the epicenter of the virus were put off indefinitely.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) says it would, however, go ahead with an international conference planned for May. Arusha regional commissioner Mrisho Gambo said this during his visit to the headquarters of the conservation agency.

“Despite worries about COVID-19, preparations of the International Geo-Park Conference are in top gear”, he said. He said strict screening of delegates will be observed. The conference, to be organized jointly with Unesco will attract at least 4,000 delegates.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that Europe was now the “epicentre” for the global coronavirus pandemic, and warned it was impossible to know when the outbreak would peak.

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu said the continent had now “more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.