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Applications of 90min Covid-19 tests

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Yew

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As discussed in the Good News Stories thread. A new 90 min test For Covid 19 Has been developed.


New rapid tests that can detect coronavirus in just 90 minutes will start to be used in care homes and labs from next week.

The two new types of test do not require trained health staff to operate them and can also pick up other winter viruses.


Currently most results from tests carried out in-person are returned the following day, while home kits take longer.

(Apologies for the Sky link, I couldn't find the BBC article)
 
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AdamWW

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(Apologies for the Sky link, I couldn't find the BBC article)

Here is a link to the BBC article which the original poster couldn't find, for the benefit of anybody who would like to use the BBC instead of SKY as a reference


A quote from it is:

New 90-minute tests that can detect coronavirus and flu will be rolled out in hospitals and care homes from next week.
The "on-the-spot" swab and DNA tests will help distinguish between Covid-19 and other seasonal illnesses, the government said.
The health secretary said this would be "hugely beneficial" over the winter.
Currently, a third of tests take longer than 24 hours to process.

(Edited to meet guidelines)
 
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adc82140

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As I said in the good news thread, use them to test entire towns where an outbreak has occurred, rather than resorting to harmful local lockdowns.
 

duncanp

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Another aspect of these tests is that they do not need to be done by medical professionals such as doctors and nurses.

This means that care home staff could keep a stock of these tests on site and administer the tests themselves, after having the necessary training.

The results would be available quickly, enabling staff to take the appropriate actions as soon as possible.

These test kits could also be sent to community settings such as pharmacies, which would enable people to have rapid access to testing, and rapid access to the results.

It is rapid access to testing and results that is important in improving the effectiveness of the Test and Trace program, which should help to prevent a large spike in cases, and avoid the need for local or national lockdowns.
 

Yew

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A quick thought that I had about these, is that they can be used by those who are self-isolating due to a contact/travel, show a clean test for that day of your isolation, and you can go about pretty much as normal.
 

Trackman

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These test kits could also be sent to community settings such as pharmacies, which would enable people to have rapid access to testing, and rapid access to the results.

They have not said yet, but I guess that is the general idea.
The Pharmacies could pick the tests up contact free and most of them have delivery vehicles.
They could have a council team to do it too.
 

RomeoCharlie71

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A quick thought that I had about these, is that they can be used by those who are self-isolating due to a contact/travel, show a clean test for that day of your isolation, and you can go about pretty much as normal.
Scotland are explicitly saying that this does not apply (to the current tests), you have to remain in self-isolation for the full 14 days, even if you test negative, if you are a close contact of an infected person.

Not sure how this would change just because a test can be turned around in 90 minutes?
 

Huntergreed

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Not sure how this would change just because a test can be turned around in 90 minutes?
It all comes down to how effective the test is, if it can pick up asymptomatic cases (ie all cases) then presumably a negative test would exempt you from self isolation, the current test is not accurate enough (positive means you definitely have it, negative means nothing) for this yet.
 

Belperpete

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It all comes down to how effective the test is, if it can pick up asymptomatic cases (ie all cases) then presumably a negative test would exempt you from self isolation, the current test is not accurate enough (positive means you definitely have it, negative means nothing) for this yet.
A critical factor is how long the incubation delay is between you getting infected, and testing positive. All that a negative tests says is that you don't, at the time of testing, have the virus at significant strength to detect. At the time of testing, you may have been infected, but if the infection has not yet taken hold then you could still test negative. A few days later, you could be busy infecting other people. That is why the proposal for testing at airports only reduces the quarantine period, not eliminates it.

Having said that, this is a very positive piece of news. The sooner someone gets a positive result, the less time they are potentially infecting other people. Particularly important with this particular virus, where so many carriers are asymptomatic.
 

AdamWW

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A critical factor is how long the incubation delay is between you getting infected, and testing positive. All that a negative tests says is that you don't, at the time of testing, have the virus at significant strength to detect. At the time of testing, you may have been infected, but if the infection has not yet taken hold then you could still test negative. A few days later, you could be busy infecting other people. That is why the proposal for testing at airports only reduces the quarantine period, not eliminates it.

Having said that, this is a very positive piece of news. The sooner someone gets a positive result, the less time they are potentially infecting other people. Particularly important with this particular virus, where so many carriers are asymptomatic.

Although (and I can't find a link now) I saw an article where a group of epidemiologists were saying that 90 minutes tests aren't actually new, that they weren't aware of these in particular but somebody seemed to have done a good hard sell on the government...
 

brad465

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I'm don't think they're quite the same thing, but if it's anything like the spit test being trialled, a rapid test could be mass produced to allow normality to resume if this test is widely available and mandated every set period to ensure the virus is at least under control.
 

Jonny

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The problem is the period between being infected and testing positive... That needs to be as short as possible in order to be meaningful; without symptoms it is meaningless given the estimated 72 hour gap beween becoming infectious and testing positive without symptoms.
 

Belperpete

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I'm don't think they're quite the same thing, but if it's anything like the spit test being trialled, a rapid test could be mass produced to allow normality to resume if this test is widely available and mandated every set period to ensure the virus is at least under control.
There are two parts to a test: the sample kit, and the equipment that is used to test the sample. The sampling kit (such as the spit tube) can be mass-produced and easily available - the critical thing is the availability of the equipment used to test the sample. Having the test results available in 90 minutes is good, but not so good if you still have to travel several hours to a testing site to get tested.

On the news, they showed the testing equipment being produced - it looked to be slightly smaller than a personal printer. It needs to be mass-produced and widely distributed, e.g. to every GP practice.
 
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