Tanzania confirms first case of COVID-19

   DAR ES SALAAM, March 16  -- Tanzanian health authorities on Monday confirmed the first case of COVID-19, saying the patient was a female who arrived in the country from Belgium by RwandAir on Sunday.
   The 46-year-old-woman arrived from Belgium after visiting Sweden and Denmark, health minister Ummy Mwalimu told a news conference in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
   Mwalimu said the woman left Tanzania on March 3 and returned to the country on March 15.
   The minister said the woman's temperature showed normal after she was examined on arrival at the Kilimanjaro International Airport.
   Mwalimu said the woman later felt sick while she was in her hotel in Arusha city and went to Arusha region's Mount Meru Hospital. The hospital took her sample to the National Laboratory in Dar es Salaam for further tests.
   Mwalimu said the patient was responding well to treatment but she could not reveal where the patient has been admitted to.
   The minister urged Tanzanians to take necessary precautions, including washing hands frequently with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water, covering nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with tissue or flexed elbow and avoiding close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
   Earlier on Monday, Tanzanian President John Magufuli announced the suspension of Uhuru Torch race for 2020 over COVID-19 concerns. Xinhua