Test to Detect CCP Virus Flawed, Scientists Say Fragments of dead virus can thwart the diagnostic tool churning out the numbers that dominate headlines Never in medical history has a diagnostic tool been given so much authority as the PCR test, which has been used to detect if someone is infected with the CCP virus. Many policymakers rely solely on rising positive cases derived from the PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test, and not on deaths or hospitalization rates, to implement restrictive measures that seek to stop the transmission of COVID-19. But that “gold standard” test is being called into question as an international team of scientists calls for the retraction of a study that details the first PCR test protocol to detect the CCP virus, claiming there were serious technical and scientific errors.