Nigeria: Scientists Develop New COVID-19 Test Kits

Nigerian scientists have come up with a new coronavirus (COVID-19) testing kit that is cheaper and faster than contemporary means.

The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) claims that the new kit costs less than the $25 for the common Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, and provides results within 40 minutes.

The cost-effective diagnostic kit also provides samples to be analysed via a mobile machine that can be operated by a volunteer with minimal training.

Babatunde Salako, the director of the NIMR, noted in a recent television interview that the only drawback is that the detection rate is lower than the PCR, but it offers hope in those aforementioned other ways.

Nigeria is currently enduring a mass shortage of testing capacity, along with a major under-testing across the huge population consisting of approximately 206 million citizens.

Access to health services has also been severely impacted, said Salako, as many hospitals refuse to give treatment to patients without COVID-19 results.

The west African nation currently has 59 345 confirmed cases of the virus, while 1 113 people have died.