VIDEO: Covid-19 cases in Tanzania rise to 19 as five more cases are confirmed

Dar es Salaam. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Tanzania rose to 19 on Monday, 30 March 2020 after five more people tested positive, the government has said.

Health minister Ummy Mwalimu said on Monday that two of those who tested positive are from Zanzibar while three are from Dar es Salaam.

“Today, we have received test results from the national community health laboratory and confirmed that five more people have tested positive of coronavirus,” said Ms Mwalimu.

She said more information on the two from Zanzibar will be issued by the health minister from the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.

As for those from Dar es Salaam, said Ms Mwalimu, two of them are male Tanzanians, each aged 49. While of one of them is believed to have contracted the virus when he met with a foreign national from one of the most infected countries in the world, the other happens to be on the list of those who were being traced under the contact tracing approach.

The third person is a 21-year old Tanzanian woman who was also on the list of those who were being traced by the government’s Covid-19 control team.

“We are closely tracing the people who had come into contact with those who have tested positive as we continue to urge the public to remain cautious,” she said.