What the Coronavirus Variants Mean for Testing
Most tests should be able to detect the variants of concern, but test developers and health officials must remain vigilant, scientists say.
A man receives a nasal swab at a mobile Covid-19 testing site in Queens, N.Y., in early April.Credit.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
By Emily Anthes
April 14, 2021, 3:00 p.m. ET
In January 2020, just weeks after the first Covid-19 cases emerged in China, the full genome of the new coronavirus was published online. Using this genomic sequence, scientists scrambled to design a large assortment of diagnostic tests for the virus.
But the virus has mutated since then. And as the coronavirus has evolved, so has the landscape of testing. The emergence of new variants has sparked a flurry of interest in developing tests for specific viral mutations and prompted concerns about the accuracy of some existing tests.
A team of scientists has developed a new portable, pocket-sized machine that can diagnose SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in just 15 minutes. Globally, Covid-19 has infected nearly 129 million people and claimed 2.81 million .
New Portable COVID-19 Test Detects Virus And Tracks Mutations In Minutes
04/01/21 AT 7:51 AM The scientists use swabs to take samples, which are then analysed in a hi-tech lab in Franceville Photo: AFP / STEEVE JORDAN
KEY POINTS
It can also identify the presence of other variants of the virus
The NIRVANA is said to be faster and more convenient than the standard method
Scientists have made another breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19. A new portable test, dubbed the NIRVANA, is able to diagnose COVID-19 and simultaneously determine other viruses similar to the deadly coronvirus.
As SARS-CoV-2 continues to proliferate in different parts of the world, scientists are developing new technologies to combat its further spread. One of these technologies is the portable, pocket-sized machine that’s able to test for viruses that could be mistaken for the coronavirus, Eurekalert reported in a news release published Wednesday. What s more, the machine will also be able to
The test, dubbed NIRVANA, can simultaneously test for other viruses such as influenza that might be mistaken for the coronavirus, the researchers said.
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