Over 1,300 people in UK given positive coronavirus result due to testing error
- Swift action was taken to notify those affected and they have been asked to take another test
- The NHS Test and Trace system has been heavily criticised after a series of failures since its launch earlier this year
“NHS Test and Trace has contacted 1,311 individuals who were incorrectly told that the result of Covid-19 tests, taken between November 19 and November 23, were positive. An issue with a batch of testing chemicals meant their test results were void,” a department spokesman said in an emailed statement.
“Swift action was taken to notify those affected and they have been asked to take another test, and to continue to self-isolate if they have symptoms.”
The laboratory error that led to the problem was an “isolated incident” and was being investigated, the statement said.
The government has announced an extra 7 billion pounds (US$9.31 billion) for its Covid-19 testing and contact tracing system as part of an expanded programme of mass testing.
The NHS Test and Trace system has been heavily criticised after a series of high-profile failures since its launch earlier this year, and ministers concede it has not performed as well as they had hoped.
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In September, nearly 16,000 positive case records were lost from the system for several days – causing a delay in contact tracing. The government blamed a “legacy” file system that cut off records after about 65,000 rows of data.