Update: Lab says 113 false positive COVID-19 test results ‘isolated incident’

PROVIDENCE, RI (WLNE) – The lab group behind the 113 false positive COVID-19 test results reported on Friday called the incident “discrete and isolated in
nature” in a statement provided to ABC6.

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) had reported on Friday that a private laboratory alerted them to 113 false positive COVID-19 test results.

That meant 113 people were told that they tested positive for COVID-19 when they were actually negative.

Sunrise Medical Laboratories, which partners with Rhode Island-based East Side Clinical Laboratory to evaluate the test results, acknowledged the incident stemming from its Hicksville, New York laboratory between July 9 and July 14.

“The issue was identified as a result of internal quality assurance programs and close communication with clients,” Sunrise Medical Laboratories said in a statement. “All relevant specimens with initial positive results were repeated and amended immediately.”

The company said it would reach out to those affected and they would be retested at no charge.

“The issue does not impact any other tests performed in the laboratory,” Sunrise said in the statement.

Rhode Islanders who have been tested for COVID-19 should assume that their result is accurate unless they have been told otherwise, RIDOH says.

“The laboratory performed an internal investigation and concluded that initial sample handling in the lab was the reason for the false positives,” a RIDOH spokesman said in a statement.

RIDOH says the state’s health data will be updated to reflect these changes.