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October 14, 2020, 11:40 am | Updated: October 14, 2020 12:46 PM
Around 25 already used coronavirus test kits have been delivered in Birmingham.
Image: PA
Around 25 used coronavirus test kits have been distributed in Birmingham, the city council admitted.
Selly Oak students found the used swab kits when they opened the boxes that should contain unused kits.
Seven households received the complete kits as part of the council’s ‘delivery and collection’ service on Tuesday.
Birmingham City Council admitted the mistake but said there was “no evidence of cross contamination” and that a “root and branch review” would be carried out to investigate what happened.
The council said the outer packaging of a kit was opened.
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The alarm was raised when a student wrote on a community Facebook page: “Anyone in [Tiverton Road] given a covid test by guys in hi vis jackets, don’t open!
“They were done, we opened the box and they were sealed and torn, so obviously they had been used!”
Sophie Dunne, a sophomore at the University of Birmingham, told the Redbrick university newspaper that they were told not to post what had happened on social media.
Birmingham City Council said in a statement: “We are aware that yesterday (13 October) a small amount of evidence was mistakenly delivered during the Drop and Collect activity in Selly Oak.
“As soon as it became clear that the wrong tests had been performed, immediate steps were taken to rectify the error.
“Drop and Collect is a vital part of helping to address the spread of Covid in our city, with 100,000 tests that have been conducted to date. The circumstances surrounding this incident are being fully reviewed and any necessary changes will be implemented in the process”.
