S’pore Firm Develops a Test Kit That Can Get COVID-19 Results Within 10 Min

By
Siti Hawa
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The scary thing about the COVID-19 is that up till now, we still don’t know everything about it.

In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring it a pandemic and governments resorting to draconian measures (i.e. lockdowns) has only served to slow down the spread of the virus instead of eliminate it completely.

But there’s a 10-minute COVID-19 test kit that might help the world fight the coronavirus, and it was developed in Singapore:

S’pore Firm Develops a Test Kit That Can Get COVID-19 Results Within 10 Min

A Singapore-based medical technology firm has developed a rapid test kit for the coronavirus.

This enables the virus to be detected in less than 10 minutes.

That’s really fast.

Image: tenor

We won’t even have to wait long for it to be released, as the first batch is expected to be available as early as next month.

The Test Kit

The test kits were developed by Biolidics Limited and are able to detect the coronavirus with an accuracy of more than 95% using serum, plasma, or whole blood samples.

The company said in a press release on Monday that it had received provisional authorisation from the Health Sciences Authority for the test kits to be used in Singapore.

The company also added that it had been working with healthcare company Clearbridge Health to obtain the required approval and authorisation from the various health authorities in the region for the use of the rapid test kit.

Once they have received approvals from these health authorities, the company expects the test kits to be used in other countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Enables More Effective & Efficient Screening

The best thing about this test kit is just how efficient it is.

In its press release, Biolidics said that its rapid test kit is easy to use and can enable more effective and efficient screening of suspected carriers of the coronavirus.

Some of the places in which these kits can be made use of at are at the points of border entry and potential infection clusters.

“Currently, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is used to confirm patients with Covid-19 but it is a laboratory technique and requires laboratory specialists and dedicated medical testing equipment. Hence, PCR testing for Covid-19 generally requires at least three hours to obtain the test results,” Biolidics said.

“Given the increasing concerns over the spread of Covid-19, there is a growing demand for a simple, fast and accurate solution to control and reduce the spread of Covid-19.”

In fact, what makes this such a huge thing is the fact that testing for the coronavirus is imperative.

Interim chief executive officer Dr Leong Man Chun at Biolidics said it is important to “track and contain the pandemic which has spread rapidly across the world”.

“Utilising Biolidics’ rapid test kit, we can enable point-of-care testing for a larger pool of clusters, resulting in more effective and efficient decentralised screening among suspected cases. With faster and accurate results, it can guide treatment decisions and further enhance public safety measures,” said Dr Leong.

Let’s hope that with this test kit, more coronavirus carriers can be discovered and isolated to prevent further spread of the virus in Singapore and in other parts of the world.

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Siti Hawa
Email: [email protected]