CU & private sector develop new test for Covid-19 and flu

Monday, 17 August 2020

Test will provide results in roughly an hour, Rector Tomáš Zima says

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A team of researchers from Charles University’s First Faculty of Medicine headed by Professor Stanislav Kmoch, together with the private sector firms ZVK Career, Generi, and Spadia), have developed a new test for flu and Covid-19 which should be available in September. The test identifies infections of the two dominant flu strains (A and B) and Covid-19 (the disease caused by the novel coronavirus).

Significantly, it should cut down the waiting period for results from two hours to around one, CU’s Rector Tomáš Zima confirmed. While a price has yet to be decided, the test will not cost more than 1,700 crowns (the equivalent of around 65 euros), the rector added.

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Charles University will release further details in September ahead of the launch.

Quicker test results are important because they can limit the spread of Covid-19; at the same time, identifying the flu strains will rule out “false alarms” which would otherwise require patients to remain in quarantine.

 

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Photo: Jan Velinger, Barbora Holienčinová

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