One State's Virus Tests Are No Good, Company Says

AdventHealth admits that 35K tests are unreliable
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 16, 2020 5:00 PM CDT
One State's Virus Tests Are No Good, Company Says
A woman, who asked not to be named, wears a protective face mask as she listens to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking at a news conference during the new coronavirus pandemic, Thursday, May 14, 2020, in Doral, Fla.   (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The results of more than 35,000 COVID-19 tests ordered by a Florida-based health care system and performed by a third-party lab are unreliable, the company said Saturday. According to AdventHealth, a faith-based health care system, the situation has created "unacceptable delays." AdventHealth didn't name the third-party lab but said it had terminated its contract with the lab, the AP reports.

The tests were a mixture of positive and negative results, and some had been at the lab for a while. About 25,000 of the unreliable tests were in the central Florida area. AdventHealth president and CEO Terry Shaw said the company will notify patients who are impacted. AdventHealth has 49 hospitals in nine states. Company spokeswoman Melanie Lawhorn said two of those states are joint venture systems and were not affected by the unreliable testing.

(More coronavirus stories.)

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