This transcript may shed some light on what is happening at the University of Gibraltar Lab as featured in the Gibraltar Chronicle:
Gib screening tests hit ‘sweet spot’ between sensitivity, speed and accuracy
This article was released after the screening processes were questioned when a Kosovan football team received negative test results from the GHA for Covid-19 on two occasions, yet UEFA found a total of 15 positive cases in players that had tested negative here.
Dr Cortes explained the screening lab’s programme, under which these players were tested, is designed to find with higher levels of the virus.
The differences between the GHA screening and the UEFA testing is the sensitivity of the tests and the time it takes to deliver results, with the university tests aimed at providing a quick turnaround of results.
Dr Cortes added that detecting very low levels of virus in largely asymptomatic people would be “counterproductive”.
He highlighted how the screening tests done on the mobile testing unit swabs is different from the diagnostic tests carried out on symptomatic people.