⁍ Nevada’s public health department last week issued a directive requiring skilled nursing facilities in the state to immediately discontinue use of all COVID-19 point-of-care antigen tests until their accuracy can be better evaluated.
⁍ The directive specifically cited the Quidel and Becton tests.
⁍ Point-of-care tests are administered on site and do not need to be shipped to a lab for results.
– Last week, Nevada’s public health department ordered nursing facilities in the state to stop using point-of-care antigen tests for COVID-19 until their accuracy can be improved. On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services came down hard on the state, saying the move violates federal law and puts lives at risk, Reuters reports. The tests are performed on-site and don’t need to be shipped to a lab for results. “The letter from Nevada officials can only be interpreted as reflecting a fundamental lack of basic knowledge about testing and interpreting results,” Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a press briefing, per the Washington Post. Nevada’s public health department last week issued a directive requiring skilled nursing facilities in the state to immediately discontinue use of all COVID-19 point-of-care antigen tests until their accuracy can be better evaluated. The directive specifically cited the Quidel and Becton tests. Point-of-care tests are administered on site and do not need to be shipped to a lab for results. An official of the US Department of Health and Human Services on Friday said the directive was a violation of federal law and put lives at risk, adding that any accuracy problems with the tests are offset by the public health benefits of the rapid results they provide.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-testing/update-1-nevadas-ban-on-quidel-and-becton-dickinson-covid-19-tests-violates-law-hhs-official-idUSL4N2H034X