Coronavirus test used on thousands of NHS staff to help them get back to work was unreliable, leaked documents reveal
The memo - dated April 11 - reveals there had been "discordant results" in the tests leading to them having to be re-checked in a lab.
It means some staff may still have had the virus, or others who were told they had antibodies may have never actually had Covid-19 at all.The test was originally developed in January, but it is feared its accuracy depended on factors such as the skill with which it was used. The memo said shortages of swabs and transport led to local variations in the way the tests were run - potentially skewing the accuracy.PHE officials said staff had been given advice on how to "mitigate" problems with the system.
It came as health secretary Matt Hancock boasted it was "terrific" that the UK now had the capacity to carry out 39,000 tests a day.
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