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Quick Covid-19 saliva tests developed in Latvia to go into production soon

BC, Riga, 01.12.2020.Print version
Quick Covid-19 saliva tests developed in Latvia will go into production in the near future after validation of the tests at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital's Research Institute concludes by the end of 2020, TV3 reported on December 1st, cites LETA.

The Research Institute's laboratory doctor Aigars Reinis said that the quick tests had been in development for six months. The current tests work by identifying RNA specific to the virus, while the new tests will work differently and be much faster.


"The new tests will look for viral surface antigen" to help find out whether the sample contains the virus, said Reinis.


He could not tell when the validation process would conclude, but said that the test precision would be very high, around 90%.


The new tests will also be more comfortable than the current nasal swabs. The entire process will take fifteen to thirty minutes.


According to the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital Professor Valdis Pirags, the quick saliva tests could go into production in four months after clinical trials of the new tests are completed.






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