Dar es Salaam, 18 April, 2020 / 2:14 am (ACI Africa).
In the East African nation of Tanzania where, unlike in other countries in the region, places of worship have remained open amid COVID-19 restrictions, the President declared three days of national prayer “for God’s protection and healing.”
“Fellow Tanzanians, due to the pandemic, I urge you to use these three days, from April 17 to April 19, to pray for God’s protection and healing,” President John Pombe Magufuli tweeted Thursday, April 16.
In his Tweet, President Magufuli, a Catholic faithful, invited Tanzanians to “pray in our respective denominations and regions” and added, “the Almighty Lord who has power over all things to save us from this disease … He will listen.”
With only schools closed and social gatherings suspended except meeting to worship, the East African nation is yet to declare any restrictions on movement; life has continued normally with President Magufuli urging Tanzanians to work harder during this period to grow the economy.
On Friday, April 17, the country recorded a spike in the confirmed cases of COVID-19 over a 24-hour period, from 96 patients to 147.
