Corona test “with 99% accuracy detects virus in 10 seconds”

A Turkish team of scientists announced that they had developed a test that detects the emerging corona virus very quickly and with an accuracy of up to 99 percent.

The “Euronews” website quoted scientists from a “Bilkent” University research center that the “Diagnovir” test can present test results in 10 seconds and does not require a nasal swab to be tested.

A swab is taken from the mouth of the disease and mixed with a solution before placing it on a nanotechnology test strip.

“The test is capable of detecting the presence of pathogens with high precision,” said Ali Aitak Seaman, a researcher at the National Center for Nanotechnology Research (UNAM), citing the website report.

He explained that, unlike the currently approved test, which detects specific genetic material in a sample before amplifying it, the current test focuses on the presence of the virus or not using advanced optical methods.

The test gives a positive result in 5 to 10 seconds, while a negative result can take 20 seconds.

The team seeks to obtain the green light from the Turkish health authorities to start full-scale production in the next two months.

Turkey has recorded more than 1.9 million coronavirus cases and more than 17,600 deaths.

Turkey tightened the restrictions in place at the end of November, with a full curfew imposed during the weekend and partial during the week to counter the sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.