Corona virus: Covid-19 test samples missing after unknown thieves stole the van conveying the samples in South Africa.
The South African Police is investigating a robbery of one lorry which was said to be conveying Covid-19 samples in the city of Port Elizabeth.
The lorry was said to have been parked outside of a clinic on Monday and the driver was reported to have gone inside the clinic and when he came out, he could not find the lorry, after thorough searching by the police, the lorry was later found in another area where the hijackers abandoned it, according to what the public broadcaster SABC reported.
But the samples which was kept inside a cooler and preserved with ice block, was not found inside the lorry again.
Health authorities has warned the attackers that the public should not touch the samples because the infected samples could be inside the box too, according to News24 website which quoted one of the health officials from the National Health Laboratory Services for Eastern Cape province.
Health officials are investigating the number of samples that was stolen so as to know how many people would have to do the test again, the website added.
South Africa has done about 2.5 million corona virus tests.
The country has the highest number of confirmed cases in Africa.