A private laboratory in the English city of Wolverhampton carries out around 400,000 corona tests and incorrectly evaluates tens of thousands as negative. Thousands end their self-isolation because of this – they then probably infect another 55,000 people, 20 of them die.
At least 20 people are estimated to have died in Britain after a laboratory error caused tens of thousands of corona tests to be falsely reported as negative. Thousands of people, especially in southwest England, then ended their self-isolation and no longer tested themselves, the UKHSA said. That is why an additional 55,000 people would probably have been infected with the virus.
The error led to an estimated 680 increase in hospital admissions and a good 20 increase in deaths. The report spoke of human error. “Each false negative test has probably led to more than two additional infections,” it said. Around 39,000 tests were affected between September 2nd and October 12th, 2021.
In total, the private laboratory in the city of Wolverhampton examined around 400,000 tests. The company, which was only registered in the UK in May 2020 after the start of the pandemic, was awarded a £119m (€137.75m) contract by the government for this without a tender, and later a further £50m for additional PCR Testing.