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    What a bloody shambles Archived Message

    Posted by Mary on April 22, 2020, 9:27 am

    BREAKING
    Coronavirus: NHS staff offered new COVID-19 tests after initial checks found to be flawed
    Health minister Helen Whately tells Sky News that healthcare workers have been told their tests were deemed "not up to scratch".

    NHS staff already tested for coronavirus have been informed their test results might have been inaccurate, a health minister has admitted.

    Helen Whately, the social care minister, told Sky News that those healthcare workers are now being offered another COVID-19 test after their initial test was deemed to have been "not up to scratch".

    The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that a leaked document revealed tests on thousands of NHS staff were found to be flawed.

    The memo from Public Health England (PHE), dated 11 April, warned of "degraded" performance, meaning the test results are less reliable than first thought, the newspaper said.

    It also said PHE testing centres have now been told to stop using existing tests by Thursday and to instead use tests supplied by commercial firms.

    [A member of the military tests a person at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, Chessington, Britain, London, Britain, April 18, 2020.]

    Asked about the report, Ms Whately told Sky News: "My understanding from the clinical advisers is some of the early tests were evaluated and the evaluation was actually they weren't effective enough.

    "This is a normal process when you are using a test for an illness, which as we know is a new illness and we're learning all the time.

    But Ms Whately downplayed the possibility of the flawed tests meaning that healthcare workers had been sent to work in hospitals and care homes with coronavirus.

    She added: "In general we know that the guidance has been to people that, if you have symptoms, to make sure that you are isolating.

    "We have to make sure we look at the reliability of tests.

    "And this has been, also, the whole debate around the testing of people who don't have symptoms, for instance.

    "One reason why the testing is focused on people who do have symptoms is because we know the testing is most accurate when you have symptoms.

    "This is really, really important - not just to test but to make sure we are testing people effectively.

    "You need to make sure that it's giving you an accurate result on which decisions can then be made."

    On Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was "terrific" that capacity for coronavirus testing across the UK was increasing, as the government aims to deliver 100,000 tests a day by the end of this month.

    Official figures showed less than half of the current available COVID-19 testing capacity has been used.

    In the 24 hours to 9am on Monday, 19,316 tests were conducted against capacity for 39,250.

    Ms Whately admitted it was "difficult" for some to get to existing testing centres, as they are "not necessarily nearby and not everybody has a car".

    But she added the government was increasing the number of drive-through testing centres from the current 27 sites to 50, while mobile testing centres are being piloted and there is also an aim to begin delivering home testing kits.

    "These are the steps we are taking to make sure that we can actually use the testing capacity we have in the country," Ms Whately said.

    Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the national infection service at PHE, told the Daily Telegraph: "No diagnostic test is 100% sensitive.

    "Following a rigorous evaluation, we learned the PCR test produced different results to alternative tests in less than 2% of samples, and we issued immediate actions to laboratory staff to ensure the continued reliability of the test.

    "The test is regularly and thoroughly reviewed to make sure it remains reliable and effective.

    "It is standard practice to move to commercial test kits once available, and this work is already under way."

    https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-nhs-staff-offered-new-covid-19-tests-after-initial-checks-found-to-be-flawed-11976873

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