Errors at UK coronavirus testing lab may have led to 20 deaths

England’s government agency responsible for responding to public health emergencies said errors at a testing laboratory led to tens of thousands of positive COVID-19 cases being reported as negatives that could have caused the death of 20 people.

The UK has one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world, with more than 177,000 deaths since the pandemic began in 2020.

An investigation by the UK’s Health Safety Agency found that the Immensa laboratory in central England wrongly reported around 39,000 tests as negative when they should have been positive between 2 September and 12 October of last year.

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A sign for express PCR tests for Covid-19 is shown in London on July 11, 2022.
(Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

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“Through this investigation we have carefully looked at the arrangements in place to monitor the contracts of private laboratories providing surge testing during this time,” said UKHSA director and lead researcher Richard Gleave.

“It is our view that there was no single action that NHS Test and Trace could have taken differently to prevent this error from occurring in the private laboratory. However, our report sets out clear recommendations to reduce the risk that incidents such as this will happen again.”