Tanzanian President Questions Chinese Covid-19 Testing Kits After Samples From Goat And Sheep Test Positive

Tanzanian president John Magufuli has said that the Covid-19 numbers in the country could be "exaggerated due to technical hiccups" with the testing kits that were imported from China.

Tanzania has registered an alarming increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and accounts for the highest number of cases in East Africa. This report mentions that the number of cases shot up from 20 to 480.

Magufuli, who is slated to contest the elections scheduled this year, holds a doctorate in chemistry. He said that testers "had randomly obtained several non-human samples on animals and fruits." These included a sheep, a goat and a pawpaw.

All the samples were given human names. The technicians at the Tanzanian laboratory, where these samples were given, were not told about the true identities of the samples.

This report says that the samples from the pawpaw, sheep and the goat tested positive for COVID-19. The president added that this could indicate that people were testing positive for the coronavirus that is causing Covid-19, when they were  actually not infected by it. He has that the kits should be investigated.

"There is something happening. I said before we should not accept that every aid is meant to be good for this nation," Magufuli is reported to have said.

Magufuli has also announced that he had placed an order for a "herbal treatment" for the coronavirus, that is currently being touted by the president of Madagascar.

The president has been under pressure owing to the rise in cases and due to the death of three members of parliament from Covid-19.