Coronavirus: Fake tests arriving from UK seized at Chicago airport

Customs agents announced that counterfeit coronavirus tests shipped from the UK were seized at Chicago O’Hare airport

Illegal coronavirus tests sent from the UK have been intercepted at Chicago International Airport, US border control officials said.

In a press statement on Thursday, US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers said that the packages contained kits labelled as Covid-19 tests, among testing kits for “various viruses and diseases”.

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), it is illegal to import drugs and items such as medical kits that are “adulterated or misbranded”.

According to officials, there was “generally one Covid-19 kit within groups of alleged test kits for meningitis, IVF, MRSA” and “salmonella” arriving at the airport’s International Mail Facility.

Lesley Lukens, Chief Supervisory Officer at the Chicago O’Hare International Mail Facility, said the seizure “provides additional insight into past, current and future smuggling trends."

Customs and Border Patrol officers handed the parcels to the US Food and Drug Administration for analysis.

Hans Leiterman, Assistant Area Port Director, Chicago, added that “CBP seizures of illegally imported counterfeit merchandise helps protect the health and safety of U.S. citizens, and the reputation of marketplaces involved in these transactions.”

The statement warned Americans against the use of counterfeit coronavirus tests, and that authorised testing for the virus could be found at “verified state and local public health laboratories across the United States”

That comes as Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said on Wednesday that his state lacked the capacity to test for coronavirus, and has 1,700 samples waiting to be processed.

Governor Walz added: “I watch a news conference and they tell us we have testing capacity, but I am telling you we don’t have testing capacity. It is not out there yet”.

With the number of confirmed cases in the US now above 13,000, the Governor of Minnesota said that some states were being left behind by the White House’s decision to prioritise supplies to the 14 worst hit areas.

Vice President Mike Pence told a press conference on Wednesday that testing was available in all 50 states, and "It is becoming increasingly available literally every hour of the day."

Only last week, another shipment of illegal testing kits - also sent from the UK - was discovered by customs agents at Los Angeles International Airport. ​