Since June 2020, the travel-industry in Tanzania is slowly returning back to normal. For the past months there’s been a lockdown, which has been discarded. Since Mid-June, all Tanzanian borders have fully re-opened and airlines are once again open.
Tanzania has now been deemed ‘safe to travel’ again, as there’s fewer and fewer cases of the virus present. To be able to assure the health and safety of locals as well as tourists, measures have been taken to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Below you’ll find a list of IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YOU as a tourist traveling to Tanzania. In this list you’ll find coronavirus-precautions taken by the local authorities to assure the safety of tourists. These precautions are relevant to the tourism industry.
Local authorities will do mandatory medical check-up’s at border posts and airports. If there’s any sign of symptons fo the virus and/or sickness, the local authorities can put your in a 14-day mandatory quarantine. So don’t travel of you’re showing any possible symptons to assure a succesful trip and to assure the safety of others.
The locals have been instructed and informed measures to avoid the spread of the virus and assure safety to their guests. Some of these measures are; washing hands, wearing masks, social distancing etc.
And we shall continue to do so until necessary to safeguard the health and safety of our clients and staff.
The whole tourism industry in Tanzania, under the Ministry of Natural Resources, has established SOP to guarantee the safety of our tourists.
Now we have taken our responsibility to ensure your safety, but you can take your own precautions as well! Check out our ‘how to travel during coronavirus’ list down below.
Since halfway June, Tanzania has opened its borders fully and tourists are allowed to enter again without going into quarantine. Specific corona-measures are taken by the government and individuals to prevent the spread of the virus. To enter Tanzania, a negative covid-19 result from your doctor is required.
Relevant info:
As of March 11, 2019, the novel coronavirus, also named COVID-19, has been officially declared a pandemic by WHO (World Health Organisation). The outbreak was earlier declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ on 30 January 2020. It’s the first time the WHO has called an outbreak a pandemic since the H1N1 “swine flu” in 2009.
In this blog you’ll find some of the best tips & tricks to prevent yourself from catching corona, as well as government precautions. The provided information is collected from various trustworthy sources, among official studies and documentation.
We’ll go over the risk of getting the coronavirus in Tanzania, tips & tricks for traveling (which are useful for any kind of traveler), what to bring to be as safe as possible, what actions the Tanzanian government has taken among other helpful information.
Remember: Do NOT stockpile on supplies. Only buy what you absolutely need. Stockpiling on supplies might lead to a shortage when the supplies are really needed. This might be one of the greatest dangers at this moment.
With high-contact areas we mean areas that a lot of people touch and/or use. In airplanes the lavatories rank among the highest of ‘touches’. Apart from those it’s best to avoid doorknobs & storage cabins to the flush buttons being touched by multiple passengers on a given flight, the potential for coming into contact with harmful pathogens is higher.
Should using the lavatory be an absolute necessity, wash your hands with soap and water before exiting, and use hand sanitizer when you get back to your seat. Try not to touch your face in between.
In addition to that: ‘Cut your nails’, the space below the nails is a perfect space for bacteria to cluster.
Simply try to avoid standing in big crowds of people. When standing in line, try to keep a bit of distance. For the novel coronavirus, close contact is considered six feet. Refrain from touching other people (why would you anyways). If possible, try to stand in front of a queue or in the back. Crowds can usually be avoided by showing up early at the airport.
It might all sound like a scary list, but you probably have nothing to worry about, especially if you came prepared for your trip. So there’s no need to stress, just relax. Not stressing actually HELPS you from getting ilnesses. The stress of travel can increase the chances of getting an illness. There’s only so much you can do to externally protect yourself from illness, one of the most important aspects of protection is internally in your own head.
If you see someone coughing or showing signs of illness, provide them with a mask if they don’t have any. Chances that they have coronavirus are very low, as coughing could mean anything. However, as mentioned before, any illness that could lower the immune-system (like a regular flu) could make a person more susceptible for other virusus. Wearing a regular surgical-mask might not help germs from entering, but it actually does help spreading germs if it’s worn by a sick person. So by providing a mask to someone coughing, you are helping more than by wearing one of those yourself.
Now these are several measures you can take, but there’s absolutely no need to worry if you can’t take any of these measures. The most important thing is to wash your hands and avoid touching your face, which can be done in ANY situation.
It’s in the Tanzanian news, all major airports, border crossings and ports have thermal scanners ready and med staff are looking out for coughs, fever and breathing difficulty,
Using hand-sanitiser is an obligated proceedure before entering the airport. A dispenser will be available just outside. (this is at least one of the measures at Killimanjaro International Airport, but we assume this goes for other airports as well).
All together about 140 thermal Scanners and about 2300 trained med Staff, and one of the hospitals will be the out of town in Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam.
On the right you’ll find of video of the newsreport about the procedures the government has taken to present the virus from spreading to Tanzania.
Shaking hands causes germs to spread, so it’s best to avoid touching hands! So how to be polite these days? Here’s the solution! The foot-shake, or these days called; the wuhan shake. Even the Tanzanian president, John Magufuli was getting involved in this trend by doing a ‘wuhan shake’ with a colleague, and sets a great example. See picture on the left.
Wonderful site. A lot of useful information here.
I’m sending it to a few buddies ans also sharing in delicious.
And obviously, thanks to your effort!
Thanks! And you’re most welcome. We’d like everyone to stay as informed and prepared on the situation as possible! Feel free to let us know if there’s anything we might want to add to the blog and/or share a personal experience. If there are any changes regarding to corona & tanzania, we’ll put an update on the blog.
Cheers!
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you should write more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but
usually folks don’t speak about these topics. To the next!
Kind regards!!
We’ll try to be as thorough as possible on this topic. Feel free to come back to this discussion if you have any additional information. Kinds regards.
Great read,
I feel much better about my current visit to Tanzania. Do you think the pharmacy will carry the N95 masks? I want some before I go back to the States.
Hi Damon,
The masks are usually bought at hardware stores etc. Since they’re actually ment for factory workers and people who work in dusty environments that have to deal with a lot of small, potentially harmful particles. So your best chance is to look there or find some online. Remember to only buy what you absolutely need!
Goodluck in the US!