Kenyan Scientists Develop Test Kits That Give Covid-19 Results within 15 Minutes

Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) officials have developed rapid test kits that will give coronavirus results within 15 minutes.

The rapid test kit is a simple kit similar to that used in HIV testing and has three unilateral lines that will check for any SARS-like virus.

To test for Covid-19, a sample of the swab will be placed on the kit to allow it to pass through the membranes.

If it goes to one line, that is an indicator that the person does not have the virus but if it ends up with several lines, it means the person is infected.

The rapid test kits will facilitate mass testing of Covid-19 and enable health officials to make up to 35,000 tests in a single day, Daily Nation reported.

At the moment, the Ministry of Health is only able to test an average of 350 samples within 24 hours since the process used is long and tedious, as it involves a lot of manual work.

With the rapid test kits, it will take between three and 15 minutes to get the results. The kits are also portable and can easily be taken to the fields, unlike the big equipment in the labs.