Lancet under probe over discordant Covid-19 results

Do not go to a lab giving incorrect results, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has warned.

This was after complaints by people who underwent Covid-19 testing at Lancet laboratory and got positive results, only to test negative at a different lab.

Speaking during his daily briefing in Nakuru on Thursday, Kagwe said Kenyans should go to labs that they feel will give them the right information.

"We have asked the medical board to relook at the labs we have licensed and if we believe that they are not adhering to the standards then we will definitely close them down," he said.

"Why are you going there and you know it does not give clear information?. It is important to keep people informed in a true manner. "

Lancet CEO Ahmed Kalebi has previously defended its results, saying discordant results can come about when patients are nearing the end of the infection and stopped secreting virus.

On Wednesday, he wrote on Twitter:

Kalebi said, "A photo of a face that shows pimple(s) may be looked at differently e.g. expert cosmetic dermatologist may interpret what they see in finer details compared to a non-expert medical person or a lay person. The level of knowledge thus affects interpretation of results ..."

Kenya on Thursday recorded 421 new cases of Covid-19, raising the country's total confirmed cases to 11,673.

The new cases emerged from 3,895 samples that were tested in the last 24 hours.

The cumulative samples tested so far are 230,096.

Staff from St Andrew's Turi were among those who protested after their results turned negative when taken to Kemri following a positive test at Lancet.

Before the Turi case, another case of discordant results was reported with Lancet showing positive results while another lab showed negative results.