The worst-hit country in Europe after Italy, Spain has suspended the use of Chinese kits after discovering that the rapid test kits failed to detect positive cases. Spain has so far confirmed 57,786 cases for the novel coronavirus.
Coronavirus has not spared any nation. After taking over Italy, the virus has engulfed all of Spain with the second-highest number of deaths at over 4,000. With less confirmed cases than China, Spain has higher death cases than it. The news report on Thursday claims that Spain has reached a point where doctors are now deciding who will get to live and who is left to die. A similar situation was witnessed in Italy a few weeks ago.
Microbiologist experts in Spain have come out now claiming that the kits brought from China are failing to detect positive cases. According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the Chinese kits have only 30 percent sensitivity i.e. the kits are able to detect only 30 percent of the positive cases whereas the tests need to be at least 80 percent sensitive to be effective.
Spain to Return Chinese Kits
Fernando Simon, the director of Spain’s Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies confirmed that the 9,000 of the test kits brought from China were found to be ‘not good enough’ and hence Spain has decided to return them.
A spokesperson of the Carlos III Health Institute, a public health institute that directly reports to the Spanish government, told that the test kits from China would be returned and new test kits approved by the government will be rolled out instead. This is bound to have repercussions at a time Spain is going through a terrible time. The delay in rolling out new kits will prove costly.
The rapid test kits are reportedly manufactured by the Chinese company Bioeasy. Apparently, similar kits have been supplied to various other countries including Georgia and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic also confirmed that the rapid test kits from China are not working at the expected capacity. However, China is yet to respond to the fresh allegations as it is already going through an image crisis.
Rapid test kits are usually designed to get results in 10-15 minutes. By its design, these kits are not accurate as compared to the complex kits. Companies around the world are racing to manufacture similar kits.
