The New Test Yields Results in 45 Minutes — It could be a game-changer.
CU Boulder has made huge steps towards a rapid Coronavirus test that would yield results in as little as 45 minutes.
Why It Matters:
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a rapid Coronavirus test that can yield results in 45 minutes.
This is a massive improvement from the current backlog of tests which, at times, can take anywhere from a week to ten days to process.
The test is designed for widespread screening to help identify asymptomatic cases, which research suggests could make up nearly 70% of cases in America. Even though not actively showing symptoms, these people still spread the Covid-19.
With the CU test, gone are the long, intrusive nasal swabs! All a patient need do is spit in a tube, then a member of the testing staff combines their saliva with a stabilizing solution and heat. It requires minimal other equipment.
No swabs required, eliminating a crucial element in the supply chain. The slow manufacturing and turn around time are cut out of this rapid testing.
Early results of this test have yielded a high degree of accuracy and independent testing is currently underway.
The research team, in cooperation with Venture Partners at CU Boulder, has created a spinoff company, Darwin Biosciences, to commercialize the Covid-19 test.
The pressure is on in America to develop a rapid test for Covid-19, there is a massive testing shortage and heading into the fall, numbers would suggest that it could get much worse.
Testing is “our eyes and ears” as New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a recent press conference. The fewer tests we have available, the less we know about the true spread of the virus making it harder to control.