As Singapore expands coronavirus testing, authorities wary of errors and false positives
- Authorities currently test about 8,000 cases each day, up from 2,900 a day during the initial days of the outbreak
- The aim is for Singapore to be able to perform 20,000 daily tests in a few weeks, and eventually 40,000 each day
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed one laboratory testing 33 cases generated positive test results but these were later found to be “false positives”. It did not name the lab and said the ministry learned about it as part of its regular review of tests. No false negatives were found, the ministry added.
“MOH has taken immediate actions to rectify the situation,” the ministry said. “The laboratory has stopped all tests and is working to resolve the calibration issue.”
The impact of this delay was felt the next day, with 486 new cases reported on Monday compared to 876 on Sunday. MOH said it was partly due to the reduced testing.
So how does the Covid-19 lab test, which has a typical accuracy of 95 per cent or more, produce errors?
How do Covid-19 tests work?
So far, there are two categories of tests to detect Covid-19 cases, experts said.