Over 1,300 individuals in Britain had been inaccurately informed they had been infected with coronavirus soon after a laboratory error at the government’s NHS Test and Trace technique, the Department of Health and Social Care told Reuters on Saturday.
“NHS Test and Trace has contacted 1,311 individuals who were incorrectly told that the result of COVID-19 tests, taken between Nov. 19 and Nov. 23, were positive. An issue with a batch of testing chemicals meant their test results were void,” a division spokesman mentioned 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 issue was an “isolated incident” and was becoming investigated, the statement mentioned.
The government has announced an further 7 billion pounds ($9.31 billion) for its COVID-19 testing and make contact with tracing technique as component of an expanded programme of mass testing.
The NHS Test and Trace technique has been heavily criticised soon after a series of higher-profile failures due to the fact its launch earlier this year, and ministers concede it has not performed as effectively as they had hoped.
In September, almost 16,000 optimistic case records had been lost from the technique for a number of days – causing a delay in make contact with tracing. The government blamed a “legacy” file technique that reduce off records soon after about 65,000 rows of information.
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Reuters evaluation and interviews with make contact with tracers have shown difficulties with the technique, and that when searching at non-household contacts, the proportion that is effectively traced is reduce.
The United Kingdom has had about 1.6 million coronavirus situations and more than 57,500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally