UK Scientists develop coronavirus test that gives results in 30 minutes

A rapid test for coronavirus which could give a result in just 30 minutes for people at home has been developed by Oxford University.

The super-sensitive test, which picks up the virus in its very early stages when it might otherwise have been missed, could be rolled out to testing centres within a fortnight and could soon be available for home use.

Previous viral RNA tests took up to two hours to give a result, slowing down the ability to respond quickly to the crisis, Britain's Daily Telegraph reports.

The technology has been validated with clinical samples at Shenzhen Luohou People's Hospital in China and has a 100 per cent success rate at picking up both positive and negative results.

Prof Zhanfeng Cui, the Director of the Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR), said it would initially be used at medical centres but the team hoped people would eventually be allowed to test themselves at home.

"This is one of our targeted uses," he told the Telegraph. "The techniques can be self-operated with minimum training. One area we are not sure of is the regulatory requirement.

"If the normal rule of home testing is followed, the regulatory approval may take up to six months. We are making inquiries for this."

The test has taken just seven weeks to develop after Chinese scientists released the genetic structure of the virus in January.

Currently, virus testing either looks for the genetic code of the disease, or hunts for antibodies produced by the immune system after it starts to react, usually a couple of days after infection.

Viral RNA tests can detect the disease earlier than antibody tests and the new test has higher sensitivity than current diagnostics and has a lower detection limit, so could detect the disease earlier.

The results can be read by the naked eye rather than needing a computer or machine, making it potentially useful in rural areas, airports community healthcare centres and at home.

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Prof Wei Huang, of Oxford, added: "The beauty of this new test lies in the design of the viral detection that can specifically recognise SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) RNA and RNA fragments.

"The test has built-in checks to prevent false positives or negatives and the results have been highly accurate."