Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Spanish capital ditches ‘unreliable’ Chinese coronavirus test kits

Spanish capital ditches ‘unreliable’ Chinese coronavirus test kits

Madrid city stops using the kits and the national health ministry asks for them to be replaced after tests suggest they only have a 30 per cent accuracy level. Spanish government is reported to have ordered 340,000 of the kits, which the Shenzhen-based manufacturer said had an 80 per cent strike rate

Spain’s capital has stopped using a rapid Covid-19 test kit made by a Chinese company after research suggested it was not accurate enough.

Doubts over the kits’ reliability emerged as the number of cases in Spain rose sharply on Thursday to 56,188 confirmed cases and 4,089 deaths. Worldwide, the disease has now infected more than 468,000 and killed over 21,000.

The Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), one of Spain’s leading research institutes, posted on its website that it had found that nose swabs developed by Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology had an accuracy rate of less than 30 per cent.

The Spain daily El País reported that the Madrid city government had decided to stop using the Bioeasy kits and the Spanish health ministry had asked the Shenzhen company to replace supplies.

The newspaper said the central government had ordered 340,000 test kits from the company.

Zhu Hai, manager of Bioeasy, declined to comment on the reports, saying: “I’m not clear about the situation. I still haven’t seen the report [from Spain], so I’d need to find out more about it.”

El País said that Spain had been told that the rapid test kit by Bioeasy could produce test results with 80 per cent accuracy, but that was not in line with SEIMC’s findings.

According to Spanish media reports, the test required samples to be taken from the nasopharynx, an area near the base of the skull.

The samples are then diluted and deposited in a cartridge with a test strip which would mark if the sample is positive, negative or invalid. The antigen tests can return a result in 10 to 15 minutes.

Professor Leo Poon Lit-man from the University of Hong Kong’s medical faculty said an 80 per cent accuracy claim for nasal swabs was “perplexing” because this type of test is known to be inaccurate.

“It would be dangerous if it’s used on a large scale, since patients who are supposed to be positive might not be detected,” said Poon, who helped design the Covid-19 testing protocol.

On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Spain clarified through its Twitter account that the Bioeasy test kits had not been approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration and said they were not included in the medical supplies sent by the Chinese government to Spain.

“The Chinese Ministry of Commerce offered Spain a list of approved suppliers, in which Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology was not included,” the embassy said.

The embassy’s message appeared to be an effort to calm Spanish officials, who announced on Wednesday that they have placed an €432 million (US$468 million) order for Chinese medical equipment and supplies including 550 million face masks, 5.5 million testing kits and 950 ventilators.

The order has still not been shipped out of China, and none of the testing kits were made by Bioeasy, the embassy said.
Bioeasy, which said it focuses on food safety and medical tests on its website, has been promoting its Covid-19 tests in the past month.



On February 19, Baoan Daily , a local newspaper in Shenzhen, reported that Bioeasy had developed coronavirus test kits that could return results within 15 minutes.

But the kits mentioned in the report used blood samples collected from fingertips, instead of the nasal swabs in the Spanish test kits.

Bioeasy claimed that the blood test kit is 83.56 per cent accurate when giving positive results and 92.19 per cent accurate on negative results, according to the Baoan Daily report.

The Czech media has also reported problems with Chinese-made test kits.

On Monday, a local health official in the Moravia-Silesia region claimed that 80 per cent of results from Chinese rapid testing products were flawed. It is not known which company manufactured those kits.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
×