A mistake in a COVID lab is believed to be linked to the deaths of 20 people in the UK.
Thousands of positive coronavirus cases have gone under the radar due to an error at the Immensa Health Clinic Ltd in Wolverhampton.
The samples tested came back negative despite all being positive, leading to the death of an estimated 20 people, reported by Sky News.
The error means that around 39,000 PCR tests taken between September 2 and October 12, 2021 were reported as negative when they should have been positive.
Most of these COVID cases have been recorded in the South West of England.
People believing themselves to be negative for the coronavirus would therefore have continued their daily routine without isolating themselves, since they believed themselves not to be infected by the virus, still according to Sky News.
Experts from the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) estimated that the error led to around 55,000 additional infections.
The UKHSA researchers also estimated that there were around 680 additional hospitalizations ‘which might not have happened otherwise’.
“Similarly, we estimate that there may have been just over 20 additional deaths in these worst affected areas,” they added.