Nuns and priests in Tanzania die “with symptoms of Covid” | General news

Sixty nuns and 25 priests have died in Tanzania in the past two months after showing symptoms of coronavirus, the Catholic Church in the east African country has said.

The church, which has already spoken openly about the coronavirus in one of the few countries in the world not to release its data on the virus, has warned Tanzanians to take Covid-19 precautions more seriously.

President John Magufuli has already played down the virus – and last month the Minister of Health said Tanzania has no plans to vaccinate.

But Father Charles Kitima, secretary of the Tanzania Bishops’ Conference (CET) – an official assembly of Catholic bishops, said the Covid-19 threat was alive in Tanzania.

“It is up to each of us to make sure that we take all the necessary precautions and that we protect ourselves and others, especially the elderly and those with pre-existing health problems,” he said. he said at a press conference in Dar es Salaam.

Father Kitima said the church could not say whether the death of the clergy was caused by coronavirus as they had not been tested, although they all showed signs of Covid-19, including “Respiratory problems”.

“People are not tested. It’s a big challenge. The church has around 500 health centers across the country, but we are not allowed to perform tests and we do not have the equipment to do so, ”he said.

Father Kitima said the church noted a recent change in tone from the government regarding Covid precautions, but said a number of people are still not complying with the restrictions because no punitive measures was taken against them.

This is the second time this year that the church has spoken out on the threat of the pandemic in the country, saying that in January it noticed an increase in the number of deaths in its parishes.

Tanzania has not released any statistics on Covid-19 since May of last year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated for the country to do so – and is reconsidering its position on vaccines currently being rolled out as part of the Covax distribution program.