More than 700 Albertans were retested for the novel coronavirus earlier this month after an issue with some saline sample tubes was discovered, according to Alberta Health Services.
Alberta Precision Laboratories has recalled some saline sample tubes used to store and transport virus swabs used to test for COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, AHS said in a statement Wednesday morning.
This comes after a review identified that four specific types of tubes used in the past few weeks were prone to leaks.
Since the beginning of June, AHS said about 730 patients were retested for the virus due to leaking samples. All affected patients were contacted and retested, AHS said.
The affected patients make up about 1.2 per cent of the 56,600 COVID-19 samples that were processed during the same time frame, between June 1 and June 12, AHS noted.
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“Any potential health risk to laboratory staff associated with handling the leaking samples has been avoided due to the appropriate use of PPE,” AHS said in an emailed statement to Global News.
“However, the leaking tubes may cause contamination of COVID-19 specimens.”
The problematic tubes are not typically used by APL but were sourced due to shortages in swab collection supplies caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The tubes are no longer being used and the vendor has been made aware of the problem.
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said there was no risk of transmission and “no people were put at risk from the perspective of the leaking.”
“The problem has been solved by recalling those test tubes that seem to have a higher proportion of leaks,” Hinshaw said Wednesday afternoon.
“Unfortunately, I recognize it’s an inconvenience for someone who has been swabbed to have to go back again, but they have all been contacted to make them aware that this issue was identified and that a recollection would be necessary to be able to run that sample.”
AHS said the recall will not lead to a wider shortage of collection tubes as there is an adequate supply of alternative sample tubes.
“All the recalled tubes will be repurposed in the laboratory. No waste will be incurred as a result of the recall,” AHS said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Alberta has recorded 7,530 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. There were 486 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta as of Wednesday afternoon.
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