Oops! Tennessee puts virus test supplies on an auction site

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee officials accidentally listed 13 pallets of coronavirus testing materials and other supplies on an auction site, officials said.

The state listed the items on GovDeals.com, a government liquidation website, but promptly removed them Thursday after The Tennessean asked about the auction. Officials told the newspaper the listing was accidental.

The auction listing was the 'œresult of an internal processing mistake,'ť said Dean Flener, spokesman for the state's COVID-19 Unified Command Team. He said the supplies should have been stored but were inadvertently labeled as surplus and so were listed for auction.

'œThe State of Tennessee's warehouse has separate sections for storage and for surplus material to be sold,'ť Flener said in an email. 'œDuring an internal movement of items, these pallets were identified as surplus when they should have remained in storage.'ť

The auction had received one bid for $150 before the items were removed, the newspaper reported.