Coronavirus or flu, rapid tests find out in 90 minutes

Two rapid tests have been developed in Britain that allow you to discover SarsCoV2 infection in 90 minutes, distinguishing it from other seasonal respiratory diseases such as the flu: from next week the government will begin to distribute them massively in hospitals, nursing homes and laboratories to increase the diagnostic capacity in view of autumn.

"We are using the most innovative technologies to deal with coronavirus," said Health Secretary Matt Hancock. "Millions of new rapid tests will allow results in less than 90 minutes, helping us to quickly break the chain of infections. The fact that these tests can recognize the flu as well as Covid-19 will be of great help with the arrival of the winter, and will allow patients to follow the right recommendations to protect themselves and others. "

The first rapid test that will be distributed starting next week is called LamPORE, it is produced by the Oxford Nanopore company and recognizes the presence of coronavirus in 60-90 minutes: it can be performed with the GridION tabletop machine (capable of studying 15,000 swabs in one day) or with the MinION portable machine (which can examine up to 2,000 swabs per day).

The second rapid test, which analyzes the genetic material contained in the nasal swabs, is already used in eight London hospitals. From September its use will be extended thanks to the distribution of 5,000 machines supplied by the DnaNudge company, which will allow 5.8 million tests to be carried out in the coming months without the need to resort to analysis laboratories.