A-listers panic over hastily updated Academy Awards PCR testing, vaccination guidelines: Report



Celebrities are reportedly whipped up into a frenzy ahead of the annual awards ceremony, TMZ reported, all over PCR tests and vaccine guidelines to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday at Hollywood's Dolby Theater.

What are the details?

The entertainment trade site wrote, "[F]ear is in the air especially this year, as attendees wait nervously for their COVID test results."

According to the report, attendees must show proof of at least two negative COVID tests as well as proof of vaccination — with the exception of Oscars presenters and performers — outdoing even Los Angeles County's own guidelines.

"For some reason, they don't have to show proof of vaccination," the report added. "[J]ust a negative test."

What else?

Deadline reported Friday that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced updated guidelines surrounding COVID-19 testing requirements as well as protocol for those attendees who have recently been diagnosed with coronavirus.

"The move comes as the number of test specimens indicating the more transmissible BA.2 Omicron have risen 130% in the past week in L.A.," Deadline reported.

As such, the Academy issued a letter indicating that the new updates were made in conjunction with the rising case rates across the county.

A portion of the letter stated, "Those who tested positive for COVID-19 and are within a zero to five-day window from the date of their first positive test are not permitted to attend under any circumstances."

"Those who tested positive for COVID-19 and are within a six to ten-day window from the date of their first positive test are required to provide proof of negative results from two verified PCR, Lucira or Cue Health COVID-19 tests," the letter continued. "These tests may not be taken on the same day and must be administered by a verified, medically trained professional."

Further, the letter noted that the 10-day window is "strictly determined by the date and time of the first positive test (antigen or PCR) from a printed lab report and is not based on a doctor’s note or start of symptoms."

"If you are outside the ten-day window (you tested positive before March 17, 2022 at 1pm PT) and have tested positive on your PCR test taken on March 24, you must provide proof of negative results from a medically supervised antigen test taken on March 26 or March 27," the letter continued.

In its letter, the Academy also recommended that, leading up to the show, attendees should practice social distancing and wear masks, as well as avoid “enclosed and crowded spaces” and more.

On April 1, Los Angeles County is set to be lock-step with the state's guidelines and will lift all requirements for indoor "mega-event" attendees.

Roughly 200,000 COVID-19 rapid test kits have been recalled due to concerns of abnormally high rates of false positives



Nearly 200,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits are being recalled over concerns of reporting false positives, according to ABC News.

What are the details?

Australian-based test manufacturer Ellume is recalling the at-home test kits out of concerns over abnormally high rates of false positives.

Ellume was the first FDA-authorized company to sell COVID-19 testing kits to the public in stores. In clinical studies, Ellume tests were 96% accurate, Insider reported.

According to the outlet, roughly 427,000 test kits have been impacted by the issue. Approximately 195,000 of those kits are still unused and subject to recall, and approximately 202,000 have already been used. Of those, there have been nearly 42,000 positive results, of which as many as a quarter of those positives may have been inaccurate.

The company said that the affected products will be yanked from store shelves and advised distributors to stop selling those products and immediately quarantine them.

Insider reported that many of these tests were sent to retailers such as Amazon, CVS, and Target for public distributions.

Ellume CEO Sean Parsons acknowledged the recall this week and issued an apology for the stress and confusion any false positives may have caused.

"We understand that trust is central to fulfilling our purpose as a company, and we recognize that this incident may have shaken the confidence of some of those who trusted Ellume to help them manage their health and to take back a bit of control of their lives during this pandemic," Parsons said in a statement on the recall. "To those individuals, I offer my sincere apologies — and the apologies of our entire company — for any stress or difficulties they may have experienced because of a false-positive result."

"You have my personal commitment that we have learned from this experience, we have implemented additional controls to ensure our product meets our high quality standards and we are going to do everything in our power to regain your trust," Parsons' statement concluded.

The company vows that it is actively working on the issue that caused the tests to report false positives and is advising all customers to visit the Ellume website to see if their test is included in the recall.

The Food and Drug Administration say that the government agency is "working closely with Ellume to assess the company's additional manufacturing checks and other corrective steps to help ensure that the issue is resolved."

NFL has 77 false positive COVID-19 results from 11 teams — all from the same lab



Positive COVID-19 tests from 11 teams, all of which were tested in the same New Jersey lab, were ruled to be false positives upon reexamination, according to the Associated Press.

In total, 77 positive tests from a New Jersey lab called BioReference turned out to be false. The initial positives had led teams to cancel or delay practices, and isolate some players to prevent further spread.

The Minnesota Vikings had the most false positives with 12, followed by the New York Jets with 10, and the Chicago Bears with nine. Before the 77 false positives, there had only been four confirmed positive tests for players at training camp.

How did this happen?

The lab claims an isolated contamination caused the false positive results, and says that the issue has been corrected.

"On August 22, BioReference Laboratories reported an elevated number of positive COVID-19 PCR test results for NFL players and personnel at multiple clubs," Dr. Jon R. Cohen, executive chairman of BioReference, said in a statement. "The NFL immediately took necessary actions to ensure the safety of the players and personnel. Our investigation indicated that these were most likely false positive results, caused by an isolated contamination during test preparation in the New Jersey laboratory. Reagents, analyzers and staff were all ruled out as possible causes and subsequent testing has indicated that the issue has been resolved. All individuals impacted have been confirmed negative and informed."

What happens now?

Although the news of false positives is good for players and teams, it still causes a significant disruption. Once players test positive, even if it is a false positive, they cannot reenter team facilities until they have taken two more tests and received negative results on both.

The NFL's COVID-19 policy is still in development as the season approaches. Right now, teams are doing daily testing, but that could change after Sept. 5, depending on what the league decides.

For teams, the false positives were somewhat of a trial run of their protocols, although Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski didn't necessarily appreciate the test. He was listed among the false positives, and wasn't able to lead Sunday's practice. He had to stay away from the team's practice facility.

"It wasn't fun," Stefanski said, according to USA Today. "I can laugh about it now, but truly it wasn't fun to have that phone call very early in the morning and not get the news that it was potentially an error until later. It's something I take seriously, and our whole goal with our players and our staff is to keep everybody safe."