Some 1.5 million COVID-19 antibody tests bought by the federal government aren't accurate enough to be used in Australia, a report has found.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The antibody tests were supposed to be distributed soon after they arrived in March, but a report commissioned by Health Minister Greg Hunt said they were not ready for widespread deployment, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Australian National University Professor Carola Vinuesa, one of the report's co-authors, says the tests are not useful.
"At the moment, the quality does not seem to be good enough for these tests to be deployed in large scale," she told the newspaper.
"The sensitivity is not very good. They are not useful in being able to say 'you were infected'."
Australia has recorded 6966 coronavirus cases, with 6229 recovered and 97 deaths, according to data released on Tuesday night.
Australian Associated Press