The United kingdom has identified that key components in some coronavirus testing kits ordered from Eurofins, a company based in Luxembourg, had been contaminated with Covid-19 reports The Telegraph.
Laboratories across the UK were warned to expect a delay after traces of the virus were detected in parts of the testing kits referred to as ‘probes and primers’ were discovered.
Eurofins said that the issue can be resolved by ‘proper cleaning’ but admitted the discovery would result in a delay.
A spokesperson for Eurofins told the Telegraph: ‘In rare occasions, delays in some orders may occur if based on Eurofins Genomics stringent quality and environmental control procedures, manufacturing of a product may not meet the quality or purity criteria set by Eurofins Genomics.
‘We are aware that contaminations of the nature you mentioned have been observed by several primers and probes manufacturers around the world after they produced SARS-COV2 positive controls. ‘Those initial problems can be easily resolved by proper cleaning and production segregation procedures.’
The UK Government claims there is currently a capacity to carry out 11,000 tests a day, while the aim is to carry out 25,000 tests per day by mid-April in response to growing pressures and need for a more rapid testing process among citizens.
