Virus test in 2.5 hours

London: Auto supplier Robert Bosch GmbH said its health care affiliate developed a test that can diagnose COVID-19 in less than 2.5 hours and might help efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak. "Infected patients can be identified and isolated faster," Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner said in a statement. Patients typically must wait one or two days for test results. The ability to test for COVID-19 is seen as a key variable in restricting its spread. Diagnosis has proliferated in some countries like Germany and South Korea, while lagging behind in others including Italy and parts of the US.

The new test uses the medical diagnostics platform made by the health care division of Bosch, the world's largest auto supplier by sales. The device is already used in hospitals, laboratories and medical practices to diagnose a range of bacterial and viral diseases including influenza and pneumonia.

The new COVID-19 test will be available in Germany in April and be sold in international markets. Bosch teamed up with Northern Irish medical equipment maker Randox Laboratories Ltd., its partner on Vivalytic, for its development. Molecular diagnostic tests are the gold standard, used to determine whether someone is currently infected. The tests, which have confirmed the more than 470,000 cases known globally, look for nucleic acids of the virus in people's samples. While highly accurate, they also require time, experienced technicians and supplies -- including swabs -- that are in short supply. Governments have been trying to limit the number of people who get the tests to those deemed most at-risk for complications. Bosch said its rapid test can be performed entirely at the point of care. It was developed in six weeks and can diagnose 10 respiratory pathogens simultaneously, with an accuracy rate of more than 95%, according to the manufacturer.

Meanwhile, a medical electronics research unit, Organisation De Scalene, claims it has developed the prototype of a gadget that could neutralise the spread of the virus. The prototype is being sent to the University of Maryland in the US this week, for the tests to be corroborated and its efficacy and reach to be verified. Chairman of the organisation, Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, said that what his institute has innovated is a small device or gadget that can be kept in homes, auditoriums, offices, schools, cars... everywhere.

The device, he claimed, basically acts as a neutraliser of the virus' potency, so that anyone who comes in contact with, for example, a table or a chair that has the virus, would still not be affected by the virus.