No evidence suggests the UK government’s COVID-19 testing contracts with a health company were awarded improperly, but the audit trail was inadequately maintained, a watchdog has found. The National Audit Office (NAO) on Thursday published the result of its investigation into the government’s COVID-19 contracts with Randox Laboratories Ltd. According to the NAO, 22 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing services and goods contracts worth up to £776.9 million ($1.02 billion) were awarded to Randox or its strategic partner Qnostics Ltd between January 2020 and December 2021, and 60 percent of the total value of the contracts (£463.5 million, $610.5 million) was awarded directly without competition, under emergency procurement rules. The watchdog said the government “had to act quickly and in exceptional circumstances to scale up COVID-19 testing activity, given the lack of mass testing capacity in the UK” at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the NAO, the Department of Health and Social Care …