ICAP’s Founder and Global Director, Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA spoke with Star Tribune to clarify the incorrect claim that the World Health Organization admitted that COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests caused large-scale false positives. In reality, the WHO made no such admission, nor did the health agency see a large scale number of false positives.
“PCR tests work by analyzing the viral load in cycles,” said El-Sadr. “The higher the viral load in a patient, the easier it is for a PCR test to become positive. More cycles of the test are needed to detect infections with a lower viral load, such as at the start or end of having the virus.”
