Test Trump touted is so error-prone at least one hospital was forced to return it: report
President Donald Trump bragged about an Abbott Labs for his "Quick COVID-19 Test" as "a whole new ballgame." In fact, at least one hospital is having problems with it, Wall Street Journal.
"I want to thank Abbott Labs for the incredible work they've done. They've been working around-the-clock," Trump said in the final days of March.
He claimed the lab's test could deliver "lightning-fast results in as little as five minutes." This while many leaders are worried about a huge backlog in tests and the need for more testing to discover if social-distancing has stopped the spread or not. Trump's government bought hundreds of devices and sent them out to the states.
"In recent days, state and hospital officials found in internal studies that the devices frequently produced inaccurate results, leading at least one hospital to return the devices, they said in interviews," said the Journal.
Abbott's spokesman Scott Stoffel swore that this is an anomaly and indicated that they changed their instructions to address the problem.
"Most of the dozens produced since identify the genetic footprint of the virus, but use different machines, methods and materials, including obscure ones such as chemicals derived from bacteria found in hot springs and deep-sea thermal vents," said the Journal. "Most require a long list of components that come from different producers, including swabs, throwaway polystyrene parts, chemical reagents, glass pipettes, pipette tips and more, resulting in a complex supply chain that easily breaks down when there is a shortage of any particular element."
The hope is that more people can be tested, but it's unclear if this device will actually be part of the solution.
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