Washington state recalls 12,000 COVID-19 test kits

Washington state has recalled 12,000 test kits of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) due to possible contamination, the state's Department of Health announced (DOH) last Sunday.

The department was alerted by the University of Washington Medicine (UW Medicine) on April 17 to stop using a recently-procured batch of COVID-19 specimen collection kits which the university believed may have a "quality control issue."

DOH explained in a news releasethat some of the vials of viral transport media (VTM) – the fluid that preserves a specimen during transport – were an unusual color, which led UW Medicine to reach out to the health department to investigate potential contamination.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)