Jordan health ministry: COVID-19 testing kits being used are safe

DUBAI: All polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits being used to diagnose possible coronavirus infection are safe and have not been exposed to contamination that would compromise accuracy, Jordan’s health ministry has said.

The government was reacting to earlier claims by a Jordanian Society of Genetic Engineers‎ official that the PCR kits used by the health ministry were tainted with coronavirus, which resulted in a spike in cases over recent weeks, state news agency Petra reported.

Asia Adwan, the director of the ministry’s laboratories division, said claims surrounding the safety and accuracy of the PCR testing had a detrimental impact on efforts exerted to fight the pandemic, which he said was in violation of Jordan’s Defense Order No. 8 issued on April 15, 2020.

The order includes a provision prohibiting people from publishing, re-publishing or circulating any information – including via any form of media, including social media – about the pandemic that would create fear among members of the public.

Adwan also rationalized that if the PCR kits have been contaminated with the virus, then all tests conducted would have returned positive results, which was contrary to actual daily testing that showed mostly negative results.

Meanwhile areas in Amman, Mafraq and Jerash meanwhile will be placed under full lockdown early Wednesday for a week after a spike in clustered coronavirus cases.