aljazeera.com: Tanzania has temporarily suspended the head of its national health laboratory in charge of testing for coronavirus. This happened the day after President John Magufuli questioned the accuracy of her tests.
Magufuli, who has consistently downplayed the virus's impact, said Sunday that he was secretly testing animals, fruits and car oil in a laboratory. Papaya, quail and a domestic goat have tested positive for coronavirus, the president said.
After that, the president questioned the reliability of laboratory equipment and technical specialists, and so much doubted the official data on the pandemic.
The Tanzanian president further called for an investigation into the alleged "dirty games" in the laboratory, although he did not explicitly indicate who the test provider was.
“Equipment or people could be compromised, although it could be outright sabotage,” Magufuli said in a live address to the nation via the state-owned Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation (TBC).
Nonetheless, opposition lawmaker Zitto Kabwe, head of the Alliance for Change and Transparency, has defended Nyambur Moremi, the fired laboratory director.
“Don't be embarrassed by politics interfering with technical issues,” he wrote to Niamburu Moremi on Twitter. "I hope you did your job professionally and you remain one of the best scientists in Tanzania."
Katherine Sungura, acting head of public affairs at the ministry of health, said on Monday that the laboratory director and her quality assurance manager were immediately removed "to set the stage for an investigation."
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Sungura also said that a ten-member committee has been appointed to investigate the lab's operations, including the process of collecting and testing samples.
On Sunday, Magufuli also fired the head of the government’s department of medical stores, which is in charge of distributing medicines and equipment to public hospitals, although the president didn’t provide any reasons for the dismissal.
The East African country, which announced its first case on March 16, has reported 480 cases of the virus and 16 deaths, according to the latest data received last Wednesday. At the same time, the opposition immediately accused the government of hiding a terrible truth and not wanting to take the threat of a global pandemic seriously.
Tanzania's schools and universities were closed, as elsewhere, but markets, bus routes and shops operate as usual. Moreover: Magufuli encourages citizens to continue to work hard and not stop going to church or mosques.
COVID-19 infection and deaths reported in Africa were relatively low compared to the United States, parts of Asia and Europe. But Africa also has extremely low testing rates, with rates only around 500 tested per million people.