Health chiefs suspend Covid testing at Wolverhampton lab
Inside testing centre responsible for 45 THOUSAND wrong Covid tests: Workers played football, scrapped and threw SNOWBALLS at firm set up by Harvard-educated entrepreneur just months before it was handed £120m NHS contract by Matt Hancock
Immensa Health Clinic processes PCRs mostly from the South West of EnglandBut an investigation found it may have been checking swabs incorrectly Health chiefs said they will be asking affected people to get a second test
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A Covid testing lab in Wolverhampton was today suspended over fears up to 45,000 infected people were wrongly given the all-clear by PCR swabs.
Immensa Health Clinic was awarded £120million by the Government to analyse PCR tests from centres across the South West.
But today an investigation revealed the laboratory had incorrectly analysed tens of thousands of swabs sent there since September 8, with people who had Covid told they did not have the virus.
Its Harvard Business School-educated manager Andrea Riposati said he was fully co-operating with authorities and that ‘quality is paramount’ for Immensa.
The company, seemingly only set up last May, just months before it was awarded the deal – is owned by Dante Labs, which is currently under investigation for failing to deliver day-two and day-eight PCR tests on time and issue customers refunds.
Its employees were filmed fighting and drinking on duty in January at the height of the second wave.
Fears had been raised over faulty lateral flow tests, after thousands tested positive with the rapid devices but then got a negative PCR result.
Scientists today appealed to Britons to keep taking PCR tests, saying that this was an isolated issue.
West Berkshire council today urged everyone tested at one of its sites between October 3 and 12 to get a second swab.
Employees at Immensa Health Clinic in Wolverhampton were filmed fighting with each other (pictured) in January. This was at the height of the first wave and when the country was in strict lockdown
They were also recorded playing football together at the testing centre while on duty
Immensa Health Clinic, in Wolverhampton, has been suspended following an investigation revealing it may have incorrectly processed PCR tests. The lab (pictured) has been paid £120million by the taxpayer for its services
Latest Test and Trace data shows 16 per cent of secondary school children in England who tested positive using a rapid test in the week to October 6, were found to be negative for the virus after they took a PCR
West Berkshire Council called for them to visit Newbury Showground (pictured) for another test
Dr Will Welfare, the public health incident director at the UK Health Security Agency which replaced Public Health England, said the lab had been investigated following concerns over its test results.
He said in a statement: ‘We have recently seen a rising number of positive LFD results subsequently testing negative on PCR.
‘As a result of our investigation, we are working with NHS Test and Trace and the company to determine the laboratory technical issues which have led to inaccurate PCR results being issued to people.
‘We have immediately suspended testing at this laboratory while we continue the investigation.
He added: ‘There is no evidence of any faults with LFD or PCR test kits themselves and the public should remain confident in using them and in other laboratory services currently provided.
‘If you get a positive LFD test, it’s important to make sure that you then get a follow up PCR test to confirm you have COVID-19. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, self-isolate and take a PCR test.’
Professor Alan McNally, a geneticist at Birmingham University, warned the number of Britons who may have received the wrong PCR result could be just the ‘tip of a rather large iceberg’.
Officials said some 400,000 tests had been processed by the lab since September 8.
But they said the majority of these would have tested negative.
Around two per cent of PCR tests carried out detect the virus, according to official figures.
People who may have received an incorrect result will be contacted in the coming days to get a second test, officials said.
Samples headed for the lab are being redirected to other testing centres.
There are no technical issues with test kits themselves and people should continue to test as normal.
Immensa Health Clinic won a £119million Government contract in November last year to carry out PCR tests.
This was not put out to tender, meaning other companies did not have a chance to bid for the deal.
Immensa is owned by Italy-based Dante Labs, which has operations in Wolverhampton and Cambridge.
The company can carry out up to 50,000 Covid tests a day, Mr Riposati wrote on its social media.
It offers day-two and day-eight PCR tests for people who arrive in the UK, day-five test-to-release kits and ‘fit to fly’ swbas.
But the company is currently the subject of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA said it had received reports that the ‘popular’ business was failing to deliver PCR tests on time or at all, respond to customer complaints and to issue people with refunds.
They added that it may be using terms and conditions which unfairly limited consumers’ rights.
Mr Riposati, who also leads Immensa labs, said: ‘We are fully collaborating with UKHSA on this matter. Quality is paramount for us.
‘We have proudly analyzed more than 2.5million samples for NHS Test and Trace, working closely with the great teams at DHSC and UKHSA.
‘We do not wish this matter or anything else to tarnish the amazing work done by the UK in this pandemic.’
A spokeswoman for Wolverhampton University said in a statement: ‘I can confirm Immensa Health Clinic is one of the tenants at the University of Wolverhampton Science Park.
‘The University of Wolverhampton and the University of Wolverhampton Science Park Ltd are not involved in the work of the company.’
Scientists today appealed for Britons to continue to get PCR tests, pointing out that the UK’s Covid testing system was built at pace.
Immensa labs are located at Wolverhampton University’s science park. The university confirmed in a statement that the company operates from the location
Pictured is a Covid testing centre next to the science park at Wolverhampton University
A man is pictured on the phone at the Covid testing centre next to Wolverhampton University science park, where Immensa labs are based
Professor Alexander Edwards, a biomedical technology scientist at Reading University, said: ‘Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
‘The vast majority of tests are correct, and it’s worth remembering that our testing system has been built up from almost nothing at the start of the pandemic.
‘I am genuinely amazed by this expansion of testing, and I applaud the hard work that has gone in on so many levels.
‘Many people dropped everything they were doing to focus fully on high-quality, scientifically sound testing, and following months of incredibly hard work have not received the same appreciation showered on vaccine workers.
‘Please let’s not assume all problems or failures mean that all testing is bad.’
But there are growing signs that Britons are now feeeling uneasy about the accuracy of Covid tests.
Tim Barton, 48, from Swindon in the South West said he and his family got positive lateral flow tests after falling ill with Covid symptoms earlier this month.
But when they went for a PCR swab they all tested negative for the virus.
The client relationship director said he feared that issues at the Immensa laboratory may be behind the diagnosis.
He added: ‘My son, daughter and myself all had positive (lateral flow tests) — we then had PCR tests done at the test site in Swindon all of which came back negative.
‘This will undoubtedly impact people’s confidence in the accuracy of these types of tests… they could have cost lives.’
Concerns had been raised over the accuracy of lateral flow tests amid a surge in the number of secndary school children thought to be getting ‘false positives’.
This is when a child tests positive for the virus using the rapid swabs, but then gets a negative result from a PCR.
Test and Trace figures show that just six per cent of school children were getting false positives in the week to September 8, when schools returned.
But in the latest week some 13 per cent got false positives, almost double the original number.
Lateral flow tests are generally regarded as less accurate than gold-standard PCR tests.
Scientists have warned that the tests can produce the wrong results if they are not carried out correctly.
Meaghan Kill, an epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said on Twitter: ‘If you had a positive LFD between September 8 and October 12, you probably had Covid regardless of your PCR result.
‘No fault has been found in LFD test kits.
‘False positive LFDs are rare (3 in 10,000) especially when prevalence of Covid is high. Trust your LFD.’
West Berkshire council announced this morning it had been made aware of problems with Covid test results for swabs taken at one of its sites.
It said in a statement: ‘After receiving reports from local residents in recent weeks that there were concerns about the accuracy of test results from (Newbury Showground test site), we passed these concerns onto the DHSC for further investigation.
‘The DHSC has now confirmed that a number of sites nationally may have been affected by this issue, including the one at Newbury Showground.’
The Covid testing centre, based at the events venue on the outskirts of the historic market town, is run by the government.
Sites like this dish out the majority of PCR tests, with samples sent to labs for analysis before results are sent back by text or email.
Ministers aim to return all results within 24 hours, although in some cases it can take as long as 72 to get a diagnosis.
Councillor Graham Bridgman told the Sun: ‘We are aware there was an issue with some tests undertaken at Newbury Showground earlier this month, which has now been resolved.
‘We would urge any residents that are concerned about their results to book another test as soon as possible so we can continue to prevent the spread of the virus across the district.’
There have been reports across the South West of England of lateral flow tests giving them negative results before PCR tests say they are positive.
