This archive report was first published on 7 May 2020.
On May 7, 2020, Tanzania's President John Magufuli sparked controversy by claiming that imported coronavirus test kits were faulty after they returned positive results on a goat and a pawpaw.
However, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), John Nkengasong, swiftly rejected this assertion, stating that the tests supplied by the Africa CDC and the Jack Ma Foundation were working very well.
‘The tests that Tanzania is using we know they are working very well,’ Nkengasong told journalists on a conference call.
As of Sunday, Tanzania had reported at least 480 confirmed cases and 18 deaths, with the government releasing data only on that day. This has prompted criticism from the opposition, who accuse the government of being secretive about the spread of the virus.
