ARCHIVED - Faulty rapid coronavirus testing kits returned to Chinese manufacturer

An unforeseen delay to the onset of mass Covid-19 testing in Spain

It was confirmed during Thursday that the first batch of rapid coronavirus testing kits received from China had proved to be faulty and has therefore been returned to the manufacturer, and while questions are being asked about how the government could have made such an important purchase without being certain the goods were usable the more important consequence is that the mass testing of the population of Spain has been delayed.

Salvador Illa, the Minister for health, stated on Thursday that the faulty kits have been returned to the manufacturing company Bioeasy in China, and in consequence the government’s plans to begin using them this week have had to be put on ice. This means that thousands - or possibly tens or hundreds of thousands - of cases will inevitably go undetected, making it impossible to isolate the patients and prevent the further spread of Covid-19.

To say that medical and hospital managements are disappointed would be to understate the case. For now they will be obliged to continue using the PCR testing method which is time-consuming and represents a drain on laboratory and personnel resources, whereas the new tests promised to complete the testing process within just 15 minutes. But it has been found that the Bioeasy kits have a sensitivity level of only 30 per cent as opposed to the required efficiency of 80 per cent, making them unreliable as they would provide many negative results for infected patients.

In consequence the current testing capacity in Spain remains at its limit of around 15,000 to 20,000 per day.

It was last Sunday that Salvador Illa announced the purchase of 640,000 rapid testing kits from China and already the first 9,000 were being delivered to testing centres in Madrid, where they were soon found to be inadequate.

The importance of being able to test patients believed to be positive is underlined by our own situation here in Murcia. We have less than 700 confirmed cases officially, but earlier this week the regional health authority confirmed that over 7,500 suspected cases were being monitored telephonically as there were insufficient kits available to test them and officially classify them as a "case". All of these are considered mild cases, so the patients are all at home. There are also over 7,500 individuals who have been in close contact with contagious cases and are in isolated lockdown as they may have contracted the virus. Without being able to test these individuals, Murcia continues to report less than 700 cases, the fear being that the public will be lulled into a false sense of security and the virus spread further, or that those who are contagious may continue to spread the virus through contact with their family when they should be in isolation.

One reader has confirmed that she reported her symptoms telephonically and was told to stay at home as her symptoms were mild, but she has never been tested and has now recovered, without having spoken to anyone on the phone again or seeing a medic; she was lucky, she said, her case was mild, but she has no idea if she was even counted as a case, or is now recorded as a recovery. Nobody has even contacted her, so nobody knows the true figures.

Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.

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What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus

The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.

Sensible precautions

The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:

- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel

- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!

- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity

- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands

- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell

- Don´t panic!