Today, everyone¡¯s scared of COVID-19 and a simple cough or runny nose makes you fear the worst. But testing COVID-19 is another challenge in our country today.
The current infrastructure for testing takes hours and is expensive. However, that could change, as Abbot has now launched a COVID-19 test that gives out result in not hours but minutes.
Abbot Laboratories machine is a molecular test that looks for fragments of the COVID-19 genome. It can detect it in 5 minutes (if it¡¯s got a stronger presence), a thorough search would take not more than 13 minutes. The device is based on Abbott¡¯s ID Now platform that is already being used to look for influenza, strep throat and respiratory syncytial virus.
The testing process is simple too. After collecting a swab from the nose or the back of the throat, it is dipped in the chemical solution that disintegrates the virus and releases its RNA.
Then, this mixture is inserted into the ID Now system that looks for specific sequences of the coronavirus genome and ignore other kinds of contamination to denote the presence or absence of the novel coronavirus.?
Another cool USP of the machine is that it is portable and doesn¡¯t need samples to be submitted in another lab -- this saves time and logistical cost of sending samples. Abbott plans to supply 50,000 tests a day starting the first week of April.?
Currently, the testing that is being applied in India, whether it is with the help of test kits made by CoSara Diagnostics or by Mylabs, the process is time-consuming, as it takes hours. Moreover, the samples need to be sent to a lab, manually tested to come to a conclusion.?
Yesterday we saw another testing device by Bosch that also eliminates the need for a laboratory for testing COVID-19, but even that machine takes a good two and a half hours to give out results.?
A device like Abbott¡¯s solves many hurdles in this while not just taking less time (thus crucial time for treatment isn¡¯t impacted) but also it can result in more people to get tested every day.