Surprised eyebrows were raised a couple of weeks ago, when the president surprisingly urged Tanzanians to wash their hands and use mouth guards - albeit only guards made in Tanzania.
It may not sound surprising in the midst of a pandemic, but so far the 61-year-old president has had a corona strategy that has terrified the outside world.
Tanzania stopped publishing statistics on corona cases in May last year, when the country had seen more than 500 confirmed corona cases and more than 20 deaths.
In June, the president announced that Tanzania had succeeded in suppressing the virus through prayers and fasting.
Since then, Tanzania's real corona situation has been a mystery.
Doctors have not dared to write positive corona results or, in the worst case, not even test those who have shown symptoms.
Minimal room for criticism
Criticizing the president's corona policy has been difficult.
Magufuli rules Tanzania with tyrannical rule, and during his time in power, freedom of speech has become increasingly restricted and the opposition is oppressed.
While Kenya, among other places, received the first vaccine doses last week and has now started vaccinating, Tanzania has not ordered any corona vaccines at all.
Magufuli has said the country will not receive any vaccine donations and he has also spread conspiracy theories about foreign vaccines.
This has worried Tanzania's neighbors - including Kenya, which has had a completely different approach to the virus.
Here, there has been a curfew if the nights in one and and mask must be worn in public places.
You do not enter Kenya without a negative test result.
Kenya also temporarily closed the border with Tanzania due to the president's policies for fear of the virus spreading uncontrollably from there.
Turning after death
Magufuli's turnaround came after several high-ranking current and former officials died of covid-like symptoms.
On the same day in February, both the Vice President of the island of Zanzibar, who had confirmed coronary heart disease, and Magufuli's own Secretary of State died.
The Secretary of State must have had respiratory symptoms.
Did the president change his mind because of that?
Or did he start to feel unwell even then?
The Tanzanian government has been silent and has not commented on the information in any other way than to urge people not to spread rumors.
The hospital in Nairobi where he is said to be located has also not commented on whether they have the president as a patient.
If he is really sick, it could still mean good news for the region.
Horror scenarios about how the virus can survive and create new mutations in Tanzania if the country does not vaccinate have been painted.
It is a threat not only to the region but to the whole world.
If his condition is critical and he recovers, there may be hope that he orders a few doses of vaccine after all.
He has previously urged infected people to breathe steam and beans as a cure for the virus.
After a hospital stay, he is unlikely to recommend that method anymore.