Tanzania: Health Minister suspends health official over faulty COVID-19 testing

Tanzania's Health Minister, Ummy Mwalimu has suspended two officials of the National Health Laboratory a day after President John Magufuli has said that the kits being used to test for the coronavirus are faulty, according to a news report by 'The East African'.

In a statement given by Ummy Mwalimu on May 4, National Health Laboratory director Nyambura Moremi and head of quality assurance Jacob Lusekelo were suspended with immediate effect.

Mwalimu also formed a special committee of nine experts to conduct an investigation over the concerns raised by President John Magufuli. He said the test kits were giving positive results on non-human samples.

Magufuli holds a doctorate in chemistry, cast doubts over coronavirus results after the number of confirmed cases jumped to 480 on April 29.

In his speech, he said that 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 coronavirus.

The non-human samples were taken from a goat, pawpaw, oil, sheep and 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 coronavirus.

Coronavirus cases in Tanzania increased to 480, making it the country with the highest number of cases in East Africa at the time. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa announced the new tally on April 29, up from 284 just a week before.