Thousands of coronavirus test kits in Washington state were recalled over contamination concerns.
The tests had already been sent out throughout the state, including one batch to UW Medicine. The Seattle-based hospital system sounded the alarm Saturday night after coming across a likely “quality control issue.” The Washington Department of Health announced on Sunday that the kits would be recalled to ensure the quality of future testing.
Secretary of Health John Wiesman said in a statement, “Though the quality control issue has only been observed in a small number of tubes of viral transport media, we adhere to the highest quality standards for COVID-19 testing in Washington state.”
“We are working with our partners to have them discard the product and will work to replace them as quickly as we can,” he added.
The possible contamination was noticed by doctors at UW Medicine because the serum used to preserve the sample taken from a patient was discolored. Officials are still not sure what caused the discoloration but noted that the situation did not harm patients who were tested because they do not touch the fluid during the test.
The state also noted that the tests were only recalled out of an “abundance of caution” and notified all hospitals that received the tests to contact the government about ordering new kits.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experienced a similar contamination issue at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The department pointed to manufacturing problems as the cause for the contamination as the first tests were starting to be made on a large scale in the U.S.
