The second week of March 2020 went into the annals of global history as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic. COVID-19 had, by this time, spread rapidly from its epicenter in Wuhan city in the Wubei province of China. It made its way into Europe, America, and the rest of the world.
Global statistics are alarming. According to the WHO, 213 countries have been affected so far. By April 15, 2020 there were 1,954,724 confirmed cases and 123,140 confirmed deaths. For Africa, there were 11,232 confirmed cases with deaths at 547 and recoveries at 2,420. Here at home, Zanzibar confirmed 18 cases, making the total confirmed cases for Tanzania to be 88. These numbers keep changing every minute.
Response strategies to COVID-19 have not been uniform. In China, India, and most part of Europe (complete) lockdown is the first line of defence to curtail wide spread of the virus. Here, in East Africa, Uganda and Rwanda are implementing lockdown. Kenya is in partial lockdown.
As for Tanzania, we have closed schools and tertiary education institutions, but otherwise life has been normal save for usual precautions—washing hands with soap and running water; use of hand sanitizer; keeping social distance etc. Of late, we are starting to see people wearing masks, ranging from respirators and surgical masks (N95) and other normal face masks, including cloth made ones.
Save for the precautionary steps, life is materially the same. People still attend churches, mosques, businesses, and offices. In the busy Dar es Salaam, it is never dull: people (including some very learned and leaders) still gather courage to attend birthday parties, go to bars and other social places, and appear in impromptu gatherings (of nature close to political activity), albeit infrequently.
There isn’t any common view as to whether or not lockdown would practically work for Tanzania (and other developing countries generally). President Magufuli of Tanzania has been clear—or at least this far—that we must go and work while, of course, praying hard for God to take away this monster alias satanic virus.
Meanwhile, back in China, there are upsetting claims that Africans living there are being mistreated in what is termed modern-day racism. Now this is kind of new, especially to us. Racism has been a terminology more suited for the West against Africans or people of African origins (I have refrained from using words ‘Black’ and ‘White’ when referring to people as no human is black or white in real sense of the colours—permit me, readers, if I am colour blind). Reactions have come from the African Union (AU) and some countries including Ghana, Nigeria and our very neighbour Uganda, condemning these inhume acts of racism against Africans in China.
ACT-Wazalendo, an opposition party in Tanzania, joined the chorus in condemning China by issuing a press statement, but the Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam was quick to baptize the statement as reckless and full of ill intention. The Embassy cited China enormous sacrifice to the global COVID-19 control. According to the Embassy, treatments accorded to Africans in China are part of the epidemic control measures.
There is also another gray area as regards to the manner in which China has handled the pandemic before it spread to the rest of the world. I believe we will learn more once the dust clears from the air.
Elsewhere, in some parts of the US, there are claims that African Americans are being segregated by healthcare facilities or are treated as second class citizens (if that is a description capable of conveying the message).
In these times of chaos and lack of clarity as to what does and/or doesn’t work, who can blame our Chinese comrades? Perhaps they are right, and we are just being sensitive or, better still, full of inferiority complex. One cannot tell, more so because I have not seen any reaction from our beloved Tanzanian government on this.
Talking of chaos—consider the conduct of the US. First President Trump called COVID-19 a Chinese virus. Then the US was hard hit by the “Chinese virus”. The US president blames the WHO and is now suspending its financial support to this important international organization at the hour of global need.
Here, at home, we have our own chaos. Whilst one can completely understand the lack of clarity in our response (total/partial lockdown or life as usual hoping for herd immunity or God’s intervention to save us from the pandemic), I think two things must be said. First, it is very unfortunate to turn a blind eye to science and hope for a miracle, one way or the other. Second, one should not condone conflicting proclamations from leaders in the same regime.
If these two are ignored, our fight becomes an uphill task. And, sadly, there will be unnecessary loss of lives, time, and resources than it would have been pragmatically unavoidable. For instance, one parliamentarian from the ruling party-Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), who also happens to be a former minister of Home Affairs in the current government argues that there is no need in giving updates on confirmed cases.
It is as if, he argues, we are competing for statistics on number of cases with neighbouring countries. To him, there is no point in doing so. This, unfortunately, is said in the parliament. Such arguments are, to say the least, unconventional, but may become the ‘new normal.’
It may be helpful to take with us a point or two from history. I now believe whoever said history repeats itself had a prophetic gift of Solomonic wisdom. During the Black Death in the 14th century, a report from the medical faculty in Paris to King Philip VI blamed “the configuration of the heavens” for causing bad air that was responsible for that contagious disease.
To some Muslim religious scholars, it is said, the plague was “martyrdom and mercy” at the same time. For believers, their places were booked in paradise. For non-believers, it was a punishment.
Now, over 600 years later, we are mystically placing the blame on the devil’s shoulders (if he has them) for COVID-19. Or perhaps we blame the Chinese for eating bats. What a historic replica.
What can we say? God help us. Have mercy on us. And what would He say? My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Yes, trust in Me, but tie your camel.
