Tag: Testing
France: Breton coronavirus variant B.1.616 – “A new Sars-Cov-2 variant poorly detected by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal samples, with high lethality”
We report a nosocomial outbreak of COVID-19 cases related to a new variant, B.1.616, characterized by poor detection by RT-PCR tests on nasopharyngeal samples despite typical clinical, radiological, and biological features of COVID-19. More...
A coronavirus variant with T205I and D399N mutations that affects antigen test performance
“While determining the analytical sensitivity of the Quidel Sofia SARS 24 Antigen FIA test (Sofia 2), we uncovered a high viral load specimen that repeatedly tested negative by this antigen test. More...
India: Doctors discuss the diagnosis and treatment of B.1.617 double mutant coronavirus patients
“Death of fully vaccinated people”, “Increased incidence of reinfections”, “Very infectious. More...
UK: Finchley in north London borough of Barnet now also surge testing for South African variant B.1.351
People living and working in Barnet, north London, are being urged to get a Covid-19 test after a case of the South African variant was found. More...
London: 70 cases of South African coronavirus variant B.1.351 found in Wandsworth & Lambeth
More...Test and trace now asking everyone 11+ living in Wandsworth and Lambeth to take a PCR test after cluster of 70+ cases of South African variant found.
Antigen coronavirus tests of 117,670 people gave 47% false negatives
A large, new survey of 117,670 people from Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut (SSI) showed that PCR tests found 4,069 positive samples but subsequent antigen tests captured only 2,159 of them. More...
Emergence of N antigen SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants escaping detection of antigenic coronavirus tests
While conducting a large validation study on the Abbott Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag test, we noticed that some swab samples failed to generate a positive result in spite of a high viral load in Rt-PCR assays. More...
Pakistan: Coronavirus positivity rate now exceeds 10%
The national positivity ratio of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan shot past 10 per cent on Thursday 25 March 2021 after 3,946 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours in the country. More...
Sharply rising coronavirus incidence rate in Côtes-d’Armor, Brittany, epicentre of new 20C variant
The coronavirus infection figures for the Covid-19 epidemic in Brittany this Friday show a sharply increasing incidence in the Côtes-d’Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine. More...
New French coronavirus variant may be invisible to PCR tests
French authorities are investigating a new coronavirus variant, derived from clade 20C, found in the western Brittany region that is more difficult for tests to detect, though for now it does not appear to be more dangerous or contagious. More...