By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Lancet Clinical Laboratories has warned that false negative tests are far more detrimental than false positives as they may lead to infected and infectious people unknowingly spreading the virus to the vulnerable as they wrongly believe they are Covid19 negative.
In a statement, the spokesperson said there was no room for human error or trickery in the issuance of results once they are determined in the lab.
“Lancet Clinical Laboratories is aware of queries that have been raised on social media regarding the case of a traveller who took 3 COVID19 tests in 72 hours and received two negative results, with a positive test result coming from Lancet’s PCR test and allegations of a Lancet staff member offering to change test results.
“We take any allegations of attempted fraud seriously and have launched an internal investigation into the allegations that a member of our staff offered to change test results and we will issue a public statement once investigations are over. In the meantime, We would like to assure the public that our results come directly from our lab testing equipment and cannot be altered after the fact,” she spokesperson said.
Lancet Laboratories, the spokesperson said, was the only pathology service provider in Zimbabwe, with ISO certification in molecular biology, which covers PCR testing (SANAS ISO 15189:2012 Certificate number M0584).
“Lancet’s team of dedicated staff operates world-class equipment which has the technical ability to detect the new and more virulent strains of SAR-CoV2 (Covid19) that have emerged from Brazil, the UK and South Africa, which may not be detectable on other PCR platforms.
“Therefore, a patient can test positive on one platform and negative on other platforms that might not be able to detect the mutations in SARS-CoV2 gene (Covid 19).
“In the wave of a deadly pandemic, false negative tests are far more detrimental than false positives as they may lead to infected and infectious people unknowingly spreading the virus to the vulnerable as they wrongly believe they are Covid19 negative,” the spokesperson said.
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