C.D.C. Virus Tests Were Contaminated and Poorly Designed, Agency Says

An internal review documented two serious flaws in the test kits, which were distributed to public health laboratories in early 2020.

The faulty coronavirus testing kits developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the early weeks of the pandemic were not only contaminated but had a basic design flaw, according to an internal review by the agency.

Health officials had already acknowledged that the test kits were contaminated, but the internal report, whose findings were published in PLOS ONE on Wednesday, also documented a design error that caused false positives.

The distribution of faulty test kits, at a time when no other tests were authorized, set back health officials’ efforts to detect and track the virus.