The head of the COVID-19 laboratory in Tanzania was suspended as the president questioned the data | May 4/2020 - 255 Updates

Tanzania suspended its head of the National Health Laboratory responsible for testing for coronavirals, a day after President John Maguale questioned the accuracy of the tests.

On Sunday, Majovole, who has continuously reduced the effect of the virus, said he had secretly underwent animals, fruits and car oil in the laboratory. The president found that papaya, quail, and goats are positive.

He questioned the reliability of the laboratory equipment and technicians and questioned the official statements on the epidemic.

The president called for an investigation of a suspected "dirty game" in the laboratory, but he did not say where the sets were imported.

"The equipment or people may be at risk and sometimes it can be sabotage," Majovole said in a speech broadcast live on state-run Tanzania Radio (TBC).

Opposition lawmaker Zito Kabwe, head of the Change and Transparency Alliance, defended the laboratory director, Nimbura Morimi.

"Don't get hurt by the way politics interfere with technical issues," he wrote on Twitter. "I am sure you have done your job professionally and will remain one of the best scientists in Tanzania."

Catherine Songora, head of the agency's communications department in the health ministry, said in a statement on Monday that the laboratory director and his director of quality assurance were stopped immediately "to pave the way for the investigation."

Songura said a 10-person committee had been set up to investigate the laboratory's operations, including the collection and testing of samples.

On Sunday, Majovole also expelled the head of the government medical warehouse department responsible for distributing medical supplies and equipment to government hospitals, but he did not give any reason.

The east African country that first reported it on March 16 recorded 480 HIV cases and 16 deaths in its last update on Wednesday.

The opposition accused the government of hiding the information and not taking the disease seriously.

Schools and universities have been closed but markets, bus stations and shops are crowded as normal, as Magufuli urged citizens to keep working hard and not stop going to church or mosques.

COVID-19 reported injuries and deaths reported across Africa were relatively low compared to the United States and parts of Asia and Europe. But Africa also has very low test levels, at rates of around 500 per million people.

Herbal tonic
In neighboring Kenya, a Senate panel requested an explanation from the Ministry of Health about the circumstances that led to the demotion of the head of the rapid response and director of the team responsible for the Virus Research Center at the state-run Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Meanwhile, many African countries have requested a herbal tonic from Madagascar prescribed as a treatment for COVID-19, although the World Health Organization rejected these claims and warned that their effects had not been proven or even tested by scientists.

Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea have already received shipments of the stimulant, which is produced from the artemisia plant used to treat malaria, while Tanzania and the Republic of the Congo have promised to import it.

source :Aljazeera