White House Using COVID-19 Test With Spotty Accuracy

The device being used to test staff for coronavirus at the White House sometimes gives false negatives, reports The New York Times.

ID Now, a rapid test by Abbott Laboratories, can provide results in less than 13 minutes. But a study in late April found the test showed a false negative in around 15% of cases.

The report comes after two White House staffers tested positive for COVID-19 – Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller and one of President Donald Trump's personal valets.

The ID Now test was granted emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in late March. Abbott later warned its tests can produce false negatives in certain conditions, including when using samples that are dissolved in liquid.

Some staff are still working in the White House, and Kevin Hassett, a senior economic adviser to the president, on Sunday told CBS News that working from home would be safer.

"It is scary to go to work," Hassett said on "Face the Nation."

"It's a small, crowded place. It's, you know, it's a little bit risky. But you have to do it because you have to serve your country."

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