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COVID-19 tests performed in Florida unreliable

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The results of more than 35,000 COVID-19 tests ordered by a Florida-based health care system and performed by a third-party lab are unreliable, the company said Saturday.

According to AdventHealth, a faith-based health care system, the situation has created “unacceptable delays.” AdventHealth didn’t name the third-party lab but said it had terminated its contract with the lab.

The tests were a mixture of positive and negative results, and some had been at the lab for a while. About 25,000 of the unreliable tests were in the central Florida area.

AdventHealth president and CEO Terry Shaw said the company will notify patients who are impacted.

AdventHealth has 49 hospitals in nine states. Company spokeswoman Melanie Lawhorn said two of those states are joint venture systems and were not affected by the unreliable testing.