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Rapid Covid test missed more than half of cases in pilot
The Guardian has claimed that a rapid coronavirus test at the heart of the government’s mass-testing strategy missed more than 50 per cent of positive cases in an Operation Moonshot pilot in Greater Manchester.
According to the newspaper, the 20-minute tests identified only 46.7 per cent of infections during a crucial trial in Manchester and Salford last month. This indicates that many of those carrying coronavirus were wrongly told they were free of the virus, potentially allowing them to infect others.
The tests were due to be used in the UK’s first city-wide mass-testing initiative, which starts in Liverpool on 6 November. Although Liverpool City Council has suggested that they would no longer be deployed as part of the trial, the government has insisted that small numbers of NHS staff would be using them in hospitals. Scientists with Greater Manchester’s mass testing expert group (MTEG) have said that the technology should not be widely used as intended in hospitals or care homes.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly claimed that the government’s mass-screening strategy is UK’s main route back to normality.
The Department of Health and Social Care said the test had been validated in three other trials which differed from Manchester’s findings, however it has not made this data public.
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