Workers prepare face shields from recycled plastics at the Zaidi Recyclers workshop as a measure to stop the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania May 21, 2020. Photo REUTERS/Stringer

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Sunday the organization has yet to receive any information from Tanzania on what measures it is taking to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data,” Tedros said in a statement on WHO’s website.

Tedros said that in late January he had joined Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa head, in urging Tanzania to scale public health measures against COVID-19 and prepare to distribute vaccines. “I also encouraged the sharing of data in light of reports of COVID-19 cases among travellers,” he said.

Tanzanian authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Tanzanian President John Magufuli has a reputation as one of the national leaders most sceptical of efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, a senior politician died of COVID-19, his party said, adding to concern about a hidden epidemic running rampant in a country that insists it has no local transmission of the disease and says it has no plans to receive vaccines.

On Friday, during a funeral service for a senior aide, Magufuli urged Tanzanians to remove fear, take precautions and put God first. He also announced three days of national prayer, according to a statement by the presidency.

The government stopped reporting data on new coronavirus infections and deaths in May last year when it had registered 509 cases and 21 fatalities.

WHO’s Tedros said in his statement that he has spoken with several authorities in Tanzania since January but “WHO is yet to receive any information regarding what measures Tanzania is taking to respond to the pandemic.”

He called on the country to implement “public health measures that we know work in breaking the chains of transmission, and to prepare for vaccination.”

And he said Tanzanian travellers testing positive for COVID-19 abroad underscored “the need for Tanzania to take robust action both to safeguard their own people and protect populations in these countries and beyond.”

On Monday, Oman’s health minister said his country was considering suspending flights from Tanzania, after 18% of travellers arriving from Tanzania tested positive for COVID-19.

Thailand reported on Monday its first case of the highly contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa, in a Thai man who arrived from Tanzania. - Reuters

Kenya Airways Cargo's coldroom to be used for the storage of vaccines at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, on Feb. 11. Photo Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

Kenya expects to get its first Covid-19 vaccines by the end of this month and inoculate 16 million of its roughly 53 million people by June next year, according to Health Secretary Mutahi Kagwe. 

The country will procure vaccines made by AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson, and any others in the Covax facility, an initiative for developing countries to access doses, Kagwe said Friday in a statement. East Africa’s biggest economy targets 24 million doses from Covax and will buy another 11 million shots from other mechanisms.

The first vaccination phase covering 1.25 million people will prioritize health, security and immigration workers.

Kenya will decide by the of next week whether to approve vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and AstraZeneca, and a Russian version known as Sputnik V, Fred Siyoi, head of the country’s drug regulatory authority, said by phone. - David Herbling, Bloomberg

Tanzania's re-elected President John Pombe Magufuli holds a spear and shield from the elders after he was sworn-in for the second term at the Jamhuri stadium in Dodoma, Tanzania November 5, 2020. Tanzania State House Press/Handout via REUTERS

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday that Tanzania, whose president has advised citizens to shun coronavirus vaccines, is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases and its healthcare facilities could be quickly overwhelmed.

In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam said it was “aware of a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases since January”.

“The practice of COVID-19 mitigation and prevention measures remains limited ... healthcare facilities in Tanzania can become quickly overwhelmed in a healthcare crisis.”

Tanzanian leader John Magufuli has said citizens should avoid vaccines and the country does not need a lockdown because God will protect his people.

Homespun precautions such as steam inhalation, he said, were better than dangerous foreign vaccines.

The east African country stopped publishing coronavirus data in April last year.

The U.S. embassy did not give figures for the surge in infections but said “limited hospital capacity throughout Tanzania could result in life-threatening delays for emergency medical care”.

Magufuli has also rubbished imported COVID-19 testing kits, saying they had returned positive results on a goat and a pawpaw fruit. He has promoted traditional remedies, without offering data or scientific evidence. - Reuters Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Giles Elgood