Riverside County to continue using Curative coronavirus test despite concerns over accuracy
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Despite concerns over accuracy, Riverside County, the city of Riverside and Corona will continue to use Curative as its coronavirus testing provider, the Press Enterprise reported Monday.
Los Angeles County announced over the weekend that it would stop using Curative's self-administered swabs at pop-up testing sites.
L.A. County's decision comes after the Food and Drug Administration warned about the potential for false negatives if the tests are not conducted properly.
"When the test is not performed in accordance with its authorization or as described in the authorized labeling, there is a greater risk that the results of the test may not be accurate," the FDA said.
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A Riverside Fire Department spokesman, Capt. Brian Guzzetta, told the Press Enterprise that the city is confident that Curative tests are being administered properly.
"We're following the FDA safety communication to a T," Guzzetta said, according to the newspaper.
Curative's test is used in sites throughout the city of Los Angeles. The county says about 10% of the 24,000 tests performed at county pop-up testing sites since mid-December were Curative tests.
"The Curative platform, just like the Antigen platforms, are very specific tests -- meaning if its positive, it's positive," said Dr. Anthony Cardillo, ER specialist and CEO of Mend Urgent Care. "However, there's a lot of false negative data coming out now, meaning if you get a negative result, it may not be a true negative."
