Spain purchases defective 659,000 coronavirus tests

On March 25th a first batch of 9,000 rapid coronavirus tests that were acquired by the Spanish Ministry of Health, lead by the philosopher Salvador Illa (Socialist Party), from an unlicensed Chinese company didn't comply with EU quality controls, being only 30% effective in detecting positives, and had to be returned. 

The question was raised by the Chinese Embassy in Spain who confirmed that Spain's Ministry of Health actually purchased another 350,000 test kits from the unlicensed company, ignoring the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's list of recommended suppliers. The Health Minister "announced the order of 5.5M tests, but it's unknown if they're from the same manufacturer." Some hours later the Spanish Ministry of Health actually purchased 650,000 ineffective coronavirus test kits from unlicensed Chinese manufacturer.

Finally  the Spanish Minister of Health has admitted the number of defective rapid coronavirus tests wasn't limited to the 9,000 distributed in Madrid, nor the 50,000 delivered but not distributed, but the whole 659,000 order made by the Spanish Government.