Contamination

stalled the rollout of a crucial test needed to begin measuring the extent of the spread of Covid-19. It would take until the end of February to correct and the US continues to lack extensive testing capability even as some states prepare ease up on restriction and reopen to a degree.The Washington Post first reported…

Contamination at CDC labs caused a significant delay in the agency providing COVID-19 test kits to states that needed them, according to reports from The Washington Post and CNN. The Post reports that scientists and federal regulators say that the CDC laboratories that assembled the test kits did not take proper precautions to avoid cross-contamination…

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The CDC facilities that assembled the kits violated sound manufacturing practices, resulting in contamination of one of the three test components used in the highly sensitive detection process, the scientists said.The cross contamination most likely occurred because chemical mixtures were assembled into the kits within a lab space that was also handling synthetic coronavirus material.…