Covid 19 coronavirus: Tanzanian president describes test kits as a 'dirty game' after pawpaw tests positive

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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," 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.

None of these things really have coronavirus. Photo / File

Tanzania has recorded 480 cases of the virus and 16 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, but there are fears that Africa is staring down the barrel of a Covid-19 emergency.

"We are at the beginning in Africa," Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, said last month.

Last week, Ryan warned that some countries in Africa are still seeing "an upwards trajectory in cases" and availability of reliable tests remains an issue.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website