A committee has been forced to investigate the conduct of the laboratory
DAR ES SALAAM, May 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Director of Tanzania’s National Health Laboratory and its quality manager have both been suspended pending investigation over coronavirus testing kits credibility.
The suspension of the top officials comes a day after President John Magufuli questioned the credibility of coronavirus testing kits being used by the lab.
In a live broadcast from his hometown of Chato in north-western Tanzania yesterday, Magufuli revealed that he secretly commissioned testing of randomly collected non-human samples, which were assigned names and ages.
He said some samples taken from animals and fruits returned inconclusive results, some testing negative and others showing positive results.
A statement from the health ministry said the minister has formed a committee of 10 people to investigate the conduct of the laboratory and submit the results by May 13.
Testing for coronavirus will still be conducted at the laboratory.
According to the most recent health ministry figures, which were published last week, the country has 480 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 167 recoveries and 16 deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES
