Tanzania President Samia Suluhu has urged citizens to wear face masks so as to protect themselves against Covid-19.

Speaking in Morogoro on Thursday, July 8, 2021, Suluhu added that the third wave of the deadly pandemic was spreading fast in the country now that ‘there was nothing to hide’.

“This third wave is already in the country and there is nothing to hide. We have patients in Kagera, Arusha, Mwanza, Dar es Salaam, and even Dodoma,” she said.

“I have seen here that just a few people are wearing masks and doing so incorrectly with only their mouths covered leaving open their noses. Therefore, I call upon everybody to take precautionary measures against Covid-19 as directed by health experts,” she said.

The President said in Dodoma, while the number of patients is small, the cases should sound a warning to citizens to be more alert in order to prevent deaths as reported in other countries.

Ms Sululu urged wearing masks whenever in public gatherings.

The warnings come barely two weeks after she revealed Tanzania’s Covid-19 statistics on June 28.

President Suluhu said the country had recorded 100 new cases since the third wave hit across the world, with 70 of the patients in critical condition.

It was the first time Tanzania made the Covid-19 numbers public since May 2020.

Suluhu has taken a different stance from her predecessor John Magufuli, who consistently declared the country coronavirus free before his death in March.