Tanzanian president says test kits a ‘dirty game’ after pawpaw tests positive

Dodoma: The testing regime in the African nation of Tanzania has been called into question by its president, after tests there found the presence of coronavirus in a pawpaw and a goat.

In a speech broadcast to the nation, President John Magufuli described imported testing kits as a “dirty game” and said that some laboratories lacked credibility.

“The equipment or people may be compromised and sometimes it can be sabotaged,” Mr Magufuli said in a Swahili speech reported by AFP.

“That means there is possibility for technical errors or these imported reagents have issues. Probably, the technicians are also bought to mislead.”

He told the nation he had secretly had a range of everyday items tested and those tests showed a positive result for a pawpaw, a quail and a goat.