Tanzania’s COVID-denying leader urges prayer as cases climb

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s COVID-denying president is calling on citizens for three days of prayer to defeat unnamed “respiratory diseases” amid warnings that the country is seeing a deadly resurgence in infections. President John Magufuli says that “maybe we have wronged God somewhere.” He has repeatedly claimed that Tanzania defeated COVID-19 with God’s help. The government has not updated its number of coronavirus cases since April, and the health ministry has promoted unproven herbal remedies to the population of some 60 million people. Magufuli has questioned COVID-19 vaccines without offering evidence. But the Catholic church, the U.S. Embassy and others warn of a resurgence in cases.