Covid-19-testing efforts in the UK have been hampered by test kits that were found to be contaminated by the coronavirus. The kits were set to be delivered within the week to help Great Britain and territories get a handle on the pandemic spread of the virus. The company which produced the kits, Eurofins, acquired a lab that was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Evening Standard reports:
Testing kits which were headed to the UK have been found to be contaminated with coronavirus.
The Government has said that it aims to boost the rate of tests to 25,000 every day by the end of April at the latest and has asked private companies to help drive up test production.
But one production firm, Luxembourg-based manufacturer Eurofins, told UK labs on Monday that deliveries would be delayed as core parts had been contaminated with coronavirus, the Telegraph reported.
This shouldn’t significantly affect the UK’s testing efforts, Government sources told the paper.
The news comes after days of confusion over how much testing the UK is doing.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said on Sunday that the UK had met its target for this stage of the coronavirus response with 10,000 tests done that day.
