Labs Are Not Manipulating Test Results
The Claim
Labs that process COVID-19 tests are producing false positives only.
Emerging story
Misbar’s Analysis
Although many people have posted about false positives for COVID tests, Misbar’s investigation shows that stories about false positives are nearly always secondhand accounts without proof.
There are three kinds of tests for COVID-19: diagnostic, antibody, and antigen. Diagnostic tests are the most commonly used. They test a swab of genetic material from inside the nasal cavity or throat. Although there have been some tests that yielded in correct results, they were actually false negatives, not false positives. This is usually due to incorrect storing of the samples. The CDC said that false negative results are much more likely than false positive ones.
Further, reported test results from hospitals do not support the claim that all tests come back as false positives. However, this chart by the COVID Tracking Project shows that over 90% of tests come back as negative.
This means that labs are not altering the tests to produce false-positive results. While many people make claims about hearing about false positives, there is no proof that that is true.
