University of Kentucky HealthCare lab scientists found false-positive COVID-19 test results when reviewing data from their Thermo Fisher testing platform, according to a report from 10 News, a local NBC affiliate.
Five things to know:
1. Scientists reviewed the raw data from the Thermo Fisher platform, which received an emergency authorization from the FDA, and found there were 26 false-positives on tests between June 27 and July 16.
2. The scientists then re-tested those 26 samples with another platform and received negative results. UK HealthCare uses four testing platforms and found a software flaw in just one of the platforms.
3. There weren't any false-negative results.
4. UK HealthCare notified Thermo Fisher Scientific, the FDA and affected individuals of the false-positive tests.
5. The health system's laboratory has performed more than 30,000 COVID-19 tests since March and reported a small percentage of tests were affected by the software defect.