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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates products including food and medical devices, has said it has 'significant concerns' over the' accuracy of the tests
Controversial lateral flow tests may have been sent out to millions of schoolchildren with the wrong instructions, it has emerged. Many of the Chinese-made kits contained guidance saying they were to be used by people suffering symptoms of coronavirus — going against official UK guidance. The devices were also sent out with a notice that they were to be administered to people 'suspected of Covid by their healthcare provider', The Telegraph reports. It comes despite the Government claiming the main purpose of the 30-minute tests is to catch asymptomatic carriers, who make up a third of a...
As few as two per cent of positive Covid lateral flow test results taken in low prevalence areas are accurate, an adviser to Matt Hancock has warned. In emails, leaked to the Guardian, senior strategist Ben Dyson is said to have warned health department colleagues about the unreliability of lateral flow test results. Mr Dyson, who is an executive director of strategy at the health department and one of health secretary Matt Hancock's advisers, reportedly raised feared that the reliability of positive results could be as low as two per cent in certain areas. The email was reportedly sent on Ap...
Lateral-flow tests: What are the risks and benefits? By Anthony Reuben Millions of people in England are being encouraged to take two free rapid Covid tests a week. The Lateral Flow Device (LFD) kits can be picked up from testing sites, pharmacies or sent through the post. They give results in about 30 minutes compared with around 24 hours for PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which are more sensitive and have to be processed in a laboratory. What is the point of mass testing? The government says one in three people with coronavirus do not have any symptoms, so could be unknowingly spre...
Number 10 has today hit back at claims controversial rapid lateral flow coronavirus tests are dangerously unreliable. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the kits, which give a result in under half an hour, 'have been tested rigorously and we are confident that they are accurate'. It came after an adviser to Matt Hancock admitted as few as two per cent of positive lateral flow test results taken in low prevalence areas are correct. In emails leaked to the Guardian, senior strategist Ben Dyson is said to have warned Health Department colleagues about the unreliability of lateral f...