Giannis Alexopoulos/NurPhoto/PA Images
A new kind of coronavirus test that is being widely used to screen people without symptoms had very low levels of accuracy at the University of Birmingham, UK, one of the few places where it was directly compared with a more accurate kind of test in a real-world setting.
Among Birmingham students, only 3.2 per cent of those infected with the virus were correctly given a positive result from the lateral flow tests being used there, according to preliminary data from the university.
Advertisement
This is much lower than previously reported sensitivity levels for this type of test. The sensitivity was 57 per cent when it was used in a mass-screening pilot in Liverpool, UK, and more than 70 per cent when it was checked in UK government laboratories, according to a spokesperson for the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care.
Hennepin County is reviving plans to expand the NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center clinic in north Minneapolis, a long-anticipated project that has been delayed twice by construction bids that exceeded the county’s budget.
On Tuesday, the county board agreed to seek new construction bids for the estimated $45.2 million project, which will add 68,000 square feet of space to the 67,000-square-foot clinic at 1313 Penn Ave. N. and remodel existing space.
The construction budget is $38.3 million, according to county documents.
Stella Whitney-West, CEO of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, said the project will likely go out for bid shortly after construction documents are finalized in January or February. The goal is to break ground on the 28-month project in June or July, she said.