Tanzanian President Now Wants Citizens to Wear Face Masks

President John Magufuli is asking Tanzanians to put on face masks as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus after months of discouraging their use.

Citizens should only wear masks manufactured in the East African nation, Magufuli said in an emailed statement.

Those imported from other counties are not safe, he said. The turnaround comes three days after Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad's death, the first vice president of Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar.

He had succumbed to the coronavirus. Magufuli has declared the East African nation free of Covid-19 while shunning lockdowns, discouraging face masks, and banning the release of virus data since April.

Story: Bloomberg