The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is investigating why dozens of COVID-19 test samples were lost. A YKHC employee reported that test samples from 95 patients were lost in transit, according to an email from YKHC Vice President of Communications Tiffany Zulkosky.
YKHC discovered the error on Sept. 15. Over the next three days, Zulkosky says that the health corporation contacted all 95 patients and offered retesting. Zulkosky would not say how many of the individuals chose to get retested and did not respond to additional questions on the incident, saying an investigation into the matter is ongoing.
As of Sept. 21, YKHC has run approximately 18,400 tests in the region and has announced 132 positive cases. Fifteen of those are active, meaning that they have not recovered. Two communities in the region, Bethel and Nunapitchuk, have community spread of the virus.
KYUK learned of this story from a news tip sent as a private message to KYUK’s Facebook Page. You can also share news tips via email to news@kyuk.org.
Correction: The story has been corrected to say that the reason why YKHC Vice President of Communications Tiffany Zulkosky cannot answer additional questions on the incident is because an investigation into the matter is ongoing.
