Immensa lab errors may have led to 23 Covid-19 deaths

Staff mistakes successful a backstage laboratory whitethorn person caused 23 other deaths from Covid-19.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) makes the assertion successful a study into errors astatine the Immensa laboratory successful Wolverhampton.

It says arsenic galore arsenic 39,000 affirmative results were wrongly reported arsenic antagonistic successful September and October 2021.

The mistakes led to "increased numbers of [hospital] admissions and deaths", the report, published connected Tuesday, concluded.

Thousands of people, galore successful the South West, were wrongly told to halt investigating aft their results were processed by Immensa.

The Wolverhampton laboratory was utilized for further investigating capableness for NHS Test and Trace from aboriginal September 2021, but investigating was suspended connected 12 October pursuing reports of inaccurate results.

Experts said high lawsuit rates successful immoderate areas were down to radical unwittingly infecting others erstwhile they should person been isolating.

UKHSA experts said the mistakes could person led to arsenic galore arsenic 55,000 further infections successful areas wherever the mendacious negatives were reported.

"Each incorrect antagonistic trial apt led to conscionable implicit 2 further infections," the study said.

"In those aforesaid geographical areas, our results besides suggest an accrued fig of admissions and deaths."

Immensa was paid much than £100m to transportation retired Covid investigating for the NHS during the pandemic.

The UKHSA said a full of astir 400,000 samples had been processed astatine the Wolverhampton lab.

"The origin [of the mistakes] was the incorrect mounting of the threshold levels for reporting affirmative and antagonistic results of PCR samples for COVID-19," said the UKHSA.

"Based connected inheritance corruption rates successful antithetic colonisation groups astatine the time, UKHSA estimated that this mistake could person led to astir 39,000 results being incorrectly reported arsenic antagonistic erstwhile they should person been positive."

Richard Gleave, UKHSA manager and pb investigator, said: "Through this probe we person looked cautiously astatine the arrangements successful spot for overseeing contracts of backstage labs providing surge investigating during this time.

"We person concluded that unit errors wrong Immensa's Wolverhampton laboratory were the contiguous origin of the incorrect reporting of COVID-19 PCR trial results successful September and October 2021.

"It is our presumption that determination was nary azygous enactment that NHS Test and Trace could person taken otherwise to forestall this mistake arising successful the backstage laboratory.

"However, our study sets retired wide recommendations to some trim the hazard of incidents similar this happening again and guarantee that concerns are addressed and investigated rapidly."

Jenny Harries, UKHSA main executive, said: "I afloat judge the findings and recommendations made successful this report, galore of which were implemented arsenic soon arsenic UKHSA discovered the incident.

"These ongoing improvements volition heighten our quality to spot problems sooner wherever they bash arise."

Dante Labs, the owners of Immensa, person been contacted for comment.