US CDC Reports Some Defects in COVID-19 Diagnostic Kits

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that defects were found in some of the COVID-19 diagnostic kits they developed. These diagnostic kits were reportedly sent to over 200 locations across the U.S. and research laboratories in 36 countries, but the exact number of defective kits has not yet been confirmed.

Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, stated at a press briefing held at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on the 12th (local time), "Last week, some COVID-19 diagnostic kits produced results that were neither negative nor positive during testing." She added, "It was confirmed within 24 hours that some diagnostic kits had defects, and we will strengthen quality control measures to prevent this from happening again." The exact extent of the defects among the kits produced so far remains unknown.

Previously, the CDC sent over 200 diagnostic kits across the U.S. on the 5th so that state health authorities could conduct their own testing without needing to send samples from suspected infected patients to the CDC headquarters. Additionally, diagnostic kits were shipped to research laboratories in 36 countries that requested them. Each kit is known to be capable of testing 700 to 800 samples.

The CDC announced that it will send new diagnostic kits and re-conduct diagnostic tests for all suspected patients at the CDC headquarters. As a result, it is expected to take 3 to 4 more days to confirm cases compared to when states conduct their own testing using the diagnostic kits. So far, a total of 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in the U.S.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.