The coronavirus test from Abbott Laboratories used at the White House to get rapid answers to whether someone is infected may miss as many as half of positive cases, according to a report from New York University.
The analysis, which has yet to be confirmed, found that Abbott’s ID NOW missed at least one-third of positive cases detected with a rival test and much as 48% when using the currently recommended dry nasal swabs, according to the report posted on BioRxiv, a server where researchers post early work before it has been reviewed by other scientists.
The results, if confirmed, indicate that the Abbott test may still suffer from very high false negative rates despite changes recommended by Abbott to avoid such a problem.