CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Reports about potential flaws in Abbott Laboratories' rapid testing system for the novel coronavirus are a concern, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday.
State government has been using the company's ID NOW platform to help process an increasing load of COVID-19 testing, but Pritzker says it's been a relatively small number. Of the latest round of tests Illinois has done, only about 3,000 of 26,000 were done through Abbott's rapid-test system, the governor said. About 10 percent of all testing to date has come through ID Now, he estimated, and those results may be reviewed.
Abbott earlier this year unveiled the rapid coronavirus test, which presented a much faster option to the current standard. The ID Now application can take mere minutes, but a recent NYU study suggests the Abbott Labs rapid tests for coronavirus can yield false negatives nearly half the time.
Now, the FDA has issued a warning and is expected to offer guidance. Pritzker suggested it's wise for private and public entities using the ID Now systems for coronavirus testing to wait for that guidance.
"We've all been put on warning by the FDA," Pritzker said during his daily coronavirus briefing.
One of the Abbott rapid-test systems is reportedly used at the White House to help protect President Trump from being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
Pritzker noted that Abbott, based in the north suburbs, makes other testing systems that have not been questioned. The ID Now platform tests for other illnesses besides coronavirus, he noted.
"While we understand no test is perfect, test outcomes depend on a number of factors including patient selection, specimen type, collection, handling, storage, transport and conformity to the way the test was designed to be run," Abbott said in a statement on Thursday, according to CNBC.
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday reported 2,432 new cases of coronavirus, including 130 deaths.
