The Connecticut State Public Health Laboratory has acknowledged flaws in one of the testing systems used to identify the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Due to these flaws, 90 out of 144 people tested for the virus between June 15 and July 17 received false positive results.
The state”™s Department of Public Health announced in a press release that the false positive test results were discovered by its laboratory scientists “during an examination of previously positive samples to determine the feasibility of testing ”˜pooled”™ specimens at the state lab.”
The department has notified patients, medical providers, the testing kit”™s manufacturer and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the errors in its test results.
The exact cause for the testing errors has yet to be determined.
The state”™s announcement comes after the publication of an article in the International Journal of Geriatrics and Rehabilitation by Dr. Sin Hang Lee, director of Milford Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, who found the original results of 20 reference samples provided by the state lab for retesting were inaccurate.
Lee offered to retest the residues of the respiratory swab samples of the deceased residents from nursing homes with high fatality rates attributed to the pandemic, in order to determine if there is a potential link between the inaccurate test results and the higher-than-normal Covid-19 death tolls within these facilities.
“Accurate and timely testing for the novel coronavirus is one of the pillars supporting effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said acting Department of Public Health Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford. “Thanks to the quick action of our team at the state lab, adjustments have already been made to ensure the accuracy of future test results from this platform.”
