"Tests show 70% incorrect results; therefore, infections are increasing."
Milli.az, citing the news website Sfera.az, shared the news without reference to any medical source.
According to the news, tests with a 40% probability of error in the early stages of the pandemic showed 60-70% "false-negative" results after the emergence of mutations.
Fakt Yoxla examined whether the claim was true.
There is always a possibility that COVID tests are incorrect. This possibility was mentioned even when the virus was just beginning to spread.
An article in the Harvard Health Blog also mentioned this possibility.
The article, written by author Robert Shmerling, states that the false-negative rate is 20% and the false-positive rate is close to zero.
However, as new strains of COVID-19 have emerged, there have been claims that tests have failed to detect these mutations or sometimes detected incorrectly.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although new mutations could change test results, the probability is very low. However, the agency advises health workers to be more careful.
The two largest test companies, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, say they have not observed that the UK strain affects the accuracy of the tests.
Thus, although mutations are likely to affect test results, this is not 70 percent, but at most 20 percent.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that the news is Fake News.
