Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Health

WHO says it is in talks with China's BGI on test kit after Swedish complaint

The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was looking into whether "observed irregularities" in a COVID-19 PCR swab test made by China's BGI Biotechnology (Wuhan) Co, Ltd were linked to how it was used in Sweden.

The WHO said it had asked the maker for a "root cause analysis".

China's BGI Genomics said on Wednesday its diagnostic coronavirus testing kit has "relatively high accuracy", a day after Sweden said about 3,700 people received false positive results due to a fault in the company's product.

The WHO, which has approved the tests for emergency use, said in reply to a Reuters query: "WHO was notified and has activated the complaint procedure for in vitro diagnostics ... to gauge if the observed irregularities were due to the way the test was used.  

"Specifically, WHO has contacted the manufacturer and requested a root cause analysis... We are continuing the work with BGI to determine if further action is required," it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Roxanne Liu in Beijing and Miyoung Kim in Seoul; writing by Stephanie Nebehay; ; editing by John Stonestreet)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.