County MPS call for answers over false-negative test results

ALETTER demanding answers over the Wolverhampton lab scandal which saw thousands receive false-negative Covid results has been signed by every MP in Gloucestershire.

The Immensa Covid testing lab in Wolverhampton sent out 43,000 results that incorrectly told people they were Covid-free, thousands of whom live in Gloucestershire.

The county saw a surge of 328 per cent in the confirmed Covid infection rate soon after the errors were revealed.

The MPS are calling for a “swift conclusion and recommendations” to be made so that “whatever errors are unearthed are not repeated there or elsewhere.”

The letter has been written to the Director of Scientific Strategy and Development at the UK Health Security Agency, the body investigating the testing lab, which was found to not have been accredited when it was awarded a £119m government contract.

The Government’s decision to hand out this contract without the normal competition and scrutiny led to a top lawyer threatening Health Secretary Sajid Javid with a class-action lawsuit.

The MPS’ letter in full reads:

Over the last 2-3 weeks there has been a significant rise in the number of Gloucestershire residents infected by the virus.

Part of the problem has been that many thousands of PCR tests by Gloucestershire residents were processed by an Immensa laboratory in Wolverhampton, and almost 4,000 of the results were subsequently found to be wrong.

This meant that those residents both had the virus without knowing it and were also unwittingly spreading it.

On behalf of all six of us, Alex Chalk has therefore written to the Director of Scientific Strategy and Development at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) about the investigation he heads about the issue at Immensa. The letter emphasises the importance of a swift conclusion and recommendations, so that whatever errors are unearthed are not repeated there or elsewhere. This is vital for our and other areas’ safety. We have also raised questions from constituents on this with the Secretary of State for the Department for Health and Social Care.

We will keep you updated when the investigation is completed. Siobhan Baillie MP

Alex Chalk QC MP

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-brown MP Richard Graham MP

Rt Hon Mark Harper MP Laurence Robertson MP

Picture: Chris Gordon/leicester Mercury A member of the public registers for a Covid-19 self test. Inset below, a general view of the Wolverhampton Science Park which houses the offices and laboratories of Immensa Health Clinic