Tanzania coronavirus test kits:The President of Tanzania John Magufuli has ordered an investigation after goats,sheep and fruits tested positive for coronavirus.
He suspended the head of its national health laboratory in charge of testing for the coronavirus.There had been many irregularities such as samples from pawpaw's and goats being regarded as human samples from testing kits.
On Sunday, President Magufuli said the test kits were giving positive results on non-human samples.In his speech,the Tanzanian leader said there were signs of
sabotage and some people could have been compromised within the national lab as random non-human samples from animals and fruits tested positive for the virus.
As of Monday the 4th of May, Tanzania had recorded 480 cases of COVID-19 and 18 deaths, according to a Reuters tally based on government and World Health Organization data.
Unlike most other African countries, Tanzania sometimes goes for days without offering updates of infections or deaths, with the last bulletin on cases on Wednesday.Now,it really makes you wonder if these figures and updates are real.
Catherine Sungura, acting head of communications at the ministry of health, said in a statement on Monday the director of the laboratory and its quality assurance manager had been immediately suspended “to pave way for the investigation”.
The non-human samples were taken from a goat, a pawpaw, oil, sheep and a jackfruit, and given human names before being submitted to the laboratory. The lab technicians were unaware that the samples were not from humans. Only the samples from the sheep and oil came out negative for Covid-19.