[40four]

I promise I’m not being a smart ass, but can you point me to a reputable source for the 80% false claim? I’ve seen a lot of people complaining of inaccurate tests, but have not come across any news articles myself. Maybe just for lack of trying :)

I ask because I saw articles about rapid tests (a few hours for a result) claiming accuracy of 98% plus in South Korea. I’m not saying the info isn’t out there, I just haven’t seen it, there is too much crap flying around.

[tony101]

"Officials in Spain said testing kits it bought from a Chinese company had only a 30 percent accuracy rate, rather than the 80 percent rate they had expected."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/business/china-coronaviru...

"Spanish medical experts, who have examined the 9,000 kits delivered last week, said they have only a 30 percent probability of detecting the virus."

https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/...

"The news comes following complaints from Spain that about 70 percent of the kits it purchased were too inaccurate to be used to diagnose patients who were sick and stuck in emergency rooms."

https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-launches-investigation-i...

"Up to 80 percent of the 150,000 portable, quick coronavirus test kits China delivered to the Czech Republic earlier this month were faulty, according to local Czech news site Expats.cz."

https://news.yahoo.com/china-supplied-faulty-coronavirus-tes...

[throw_456444]

It looks like the problem isn’t with the tests, but rather they are buying uncertified products.

From the first link,

> the company that made the test kits, Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology, had not been on Beijing’s list of certified providers

> Spanish health officials said they bought the tests from an unnamed third-party distributor

Furthermore, the Spanish health officials used the test wrong,

> In a statement on social media, Bioeasy said that Spanish officials did not understand how to conduct the test and that it made videos and issued instructions to help them.

[makomk]

If I'm following this mess correctly, that list of certified providers didn't actually exist when Spain placed the order which would make it rather hard for them to make use of it.

[pritovido]

Exactly. The test worked very well in South Korea.

[tooltalk]

Why would South Korea use Chinese testing kits when they are at least 4 biotech companies making their own testing kits (and for exports)? South Korea companies developed testing kits almost as soon as the Wuhan virus became known and have been using their own in all domestic testings.

[concerned_user]

South Korea made their own kit if I remember correctly.

[40four]

Thanks for the links. I only have so much capacity for bad news. Had no seen these :)

[pritovido]

The Government of Spain talked with WHO representatives(world's health organization) the 2th of February.

They(WHO) recommended them to buy covid fast tests. They did not. The Gov expected "one or two cases" so why the fuss?

So instead other countries(after having the same meeting with WHO) did it taking good quality test out of the market. Those are high accuracy.

But the Government of Spain waited for 9th of March to act because they wanted Women's manifestation to happen,the 8th of March, which for both parties in the Govertment(socialist and communist) was a priority over anything else(in order to show how progressive they were).

Waiting for so long meant the illness went out of control. It was too late for controlling it and a week later they recognized the problem.

So when they wanted to act they panicked and there was no good quality stock in the market, they bought what they could.

When the test kits came, they distributed to hospitals and the first thing they did was testing the kits, given the fact that they already have ill people and PCR machines(that give the results after hours or days).

They got an accuracy of just 30%, so the kits could not be used. It has been in any newspaper front page in Spain(El Español, El Pais[those are socialist so they are extra kind to the Gov], El Mundo).

So the order was cancelled.

If you know Spanish, it is extremely simple search:"test defectuosos". For example:

https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20200326/48103902679/emaba...