Dar es Salaam, 16 March 2022 – Two years ago today, Tanzania recorded its first COVID-19 case. The virus was first declared in Arusha before spreading to other locations. So far, the country has recorded 33,773 cases and 800 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health report of 11 March 2021.

In the two years, public health measures, including improved surveillance and contract tracing, testing public awareness about preventive measures have been crucial in curbing the spread of the virus. Vaccination is also being stepped up to help control the pandemic, with a goal to vaccinate 60 percent of the population.

For the period of January 2020 to December 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) received a total of USD 6.6 million from different donors that have been directed towards different activities of the response including the donation of equipment, training of various cadres of health workers and health managers, and deployment of experts.

“WHO is grateful to different donors, supporters, and health workers for the effort that they have put in preparedness and responding to the pandemic. We hope that the collaboration will continue as we step ahead and hope that in a foreseeable future Tanzania will contribute to making COVID-19 no longer a public health threat,” says Dr Tigest Ketsela Mengestu, WHO Representative in Tanzania.

WHO continues to support the country to bolster key pandemic response measures such as surveillance, testing, treatment, and community engagement. Throughout the pandemic, the organization has also provided technical guidance and delivered essential medical supplies and equipment to the country to combat the virus.

“We’ve been at the forefront of the efforts to beat this pandemic and continue to support Government and partners' efforts to effectively tackle the disease and keep nation safe,” said Dr Mengestu,

Vaccination remains a powerful weapon against this pandemic. WHO is working with partner organizations to step up the uptake in the country. So far 2,664,373 people have been fully vaccinated. More efforts are needed to reach the wider population to protect them from the risk of severe illness and death.

In the most recent situation reports of the state of COVID-19 in Tanzania, the Ministry of Health authorities continued to caution the public to continue taking precautions by following all prevention measures in public spaces.

“The past two years have been extremely challenging, but we’ve learned crucial public health lessons. We are emerging stronger and look forward to bolstering and improving the health system to be more resilient to future emergencies.”