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Thousands of contaminated test kits delivered to New Brunswick
Thousands of kits meant to screen for COVID-19 delivered to New Brunswick from a supplier in China last week were contaminated and unusable. The province says this hasn’t affected its ability to test during the pandemic.An example of a swab and tube used as part of testing for COVID-19. (Evan Tsuyoshi Mitsui/CBC)Thousands of kits meant…
Thousands of kits meant to screen for COVID-19 delivered to New Brunswick from a supplier in China last week were contaminated and unusable. The province says this hasn’t affected its ability to test during the pandemic.
Thousands of kits meant to screen for COVID-19 delivered to New Brunswick from a supplier in China last week were contaminated and unusable.
Dr. Richard Garceau, a microbiologist-infectologist at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, told Radio-Canada more than 6,400 test kits were contaminated.
“As soon as we received them, we realized that they were all contaminated with bacteria … In addition to being contaminated, the product was defective,” Garceau said.
The kits included swabs and sterilized tubes.
The federal government had ordered the kits from a supplier in China after a normal supplier's factory in Italy had sold-out of stock.
The test kits were delivered to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and then sent to New Brunswick.
Garceau said the province isn't the only location affected, estimating more than 300,000 test kits delivered across the country were contaminated.
A lab at the Dumont has been testing samples to confirm whether people have COVID-19.
In an emailed statement, the province confirmed it is aware of the situation and is exploring ways to address the issue with the federal government.
Bruce Macfarlane, a spokesperson for the Department of Health, said none of the contaminated test kits were used by the Dumont lab.
“Despite this unfortunate event, we have no concerns with our testing supplies at this time,” Macfarlane said.
‘Plenty of test kits'
When asked by a reporter Wednesday about how many test kits the province has, Premier Blaine Higgs said “there are plenty of test kits” to meet the demand for testing.
“Supplies are not restricting our ability to provide maximum health care and testing that we need to do, as it's decided to be done,” Higgs said.
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