People who received COVID-19 tests at one Jersey Shore lab should get retested, FBI says

If you recently got a COVID-19 test at one Ventnor,  New Jersey lab, you should get retested, authorities say.

The FBI's Newark issued a press release Friday urging anyone who was tested for COVID-19 at the Infinity Diagnostic Laboratory, at 6715 Atlantic Ave., to get retested.

The lab was administering finger-prick blood tests a means of diagnosing COVID-19 cases, investigators said. Such tests determine whether a person has coronavirus antibodies, and cannot be used to determine active cases of COVID-19. 

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The FBI is asking anyone tested at this location to contact investigators at  NK-Victim-Assistance@FBI.gov. as a part of a federal investigation.

"Your response is voluntary but would be useful in a federal investigation," the release read. "Based on the response provided, you may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information."

There was no additional information about why the retest was issued, but the FBI restated that "rapid" finger prick blood tests for COVID-19 are antibody tests and shouldn't be used to diagnose "active cases." 

According to the Food and Drug Administration, only a test that uses a nasal swab or saliva should be used to diagnose active COVID-19 cases.

New Jersey reported 356,662 total positive COVID-19 cases and 15,419 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the New Jersey COVID-19 Dashboard. On Dec. 4, 5,673 new positive cases were reported — the largest single-day case count since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitals reported over 3,200 hospital patients across the state, which is down significantly from earlier in the pandemic. On April 28, over 6,200 patients were in New Jersey hospitals. 

The Newark office of the FBI could not be reached for additional comment at the time of publication.