Tanzania suspends medical chief after leader queries virus data

Tanzania suspended the head of the national medical laboratory, a day after President John Magufuli questioned its coronavirus case figures and said the outbreak isn’t as bad as reported, reports Bloomberg.

The removal of Nyambura Moremi, director of the National Health Laboratory Quality Assurance and Training Centre, comes amid mounting criticism of Magufuli’s response to the pandemic.

On Sunday, Magufuli cast doubt on the facility’s data by saying government officials secretly sent swabs to the NHL that were labelled as human, but had been taken from a live goat, a bird and a papaya fruit. All three swabs tested positive for the virus, he said.

“This means that some people who have tested positive for coronavirus actually don’t even have this disease,” Magufuli said in a televised address. “The situation is not as bad as fear-mongers claim.”

The 60-year-old leader has refused to impose a lockdown and allowed churches and mosques to stay open, saying God will protect Tanzanians from the virus.

While the East African nation officially has 480 confirmed cases of the disease, the opposition says the toll is far higher. Unverified videos circulating on social media of night time burials and graveyards full of coffins have fuelled fears the illness isn’t being contained.

Moremi, who was suspended with immediate effect, didn’t respond to phone calls or a text message seeking comment. An investigation is ongoing, the Health Ministry said in a statement.