Tanzania's coronavirus cases rise to 53 as four more people test positive

Tanzania has reported four new cases of Covid-19, raising the national tally to 53.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa late Tuesday announced that all the new cases had been reported in the commercial hub Dar es Salaam.

“We urge people to take precaution, if it is not necessary to go out they should continue to remain at their homes” said Mr Majaliwa.

The PM said that the closure of schools and tertiary institutions has been extended indefinitely to prevent further infections.

He also announced a cancellation of this year’s Labour Day and Union Day celebrations—a fete to mark the union of mainland Tanzania and semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar held on April 26 each year.

Mr Majaliwa added that President John Magufuli had also directed that some Tsh500 million ($215,367), that was supposed to be used for the 56th Union Day celebrations, be diverted to the fight against coronavirus.

Three Covid-19 patients have died, while eleven others have recovered, according to the health ministry.

The Covid-19 disease, which was first reported in Wuhan, China in December, has killed at least 126,839 people worldwide with at least 2,004,991 infections.

Some 485,827people have recovered globally, according to Worldometer's count on Wednesday.