India, Israel To Roll Out Jointly Developed Rapid COVID-19 Testing Tech

In a positive development, a rapid Covid-19 testing technology jointly developed by India and Israel is set to be rolled out “in a matter of days”, reports Times of India.

Making the development public, Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka said that the rapid Covid-19 testing kit being developed by the two nations will be able to deliver the results in less than a minute, and will only require an individual to blow into a tube. He shared that the work on the project is in a very advanced stage.

The researchers from the two nations have already collected a large number of samples in India for four different kinds of technologies and have conducted trials. These technologies include a breath analyser and a voice-based test for Covid-19. The other two technologies include isothermal testing which enables identification of SARS-Cov-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, in a saliva sample and a test which uses poly-amino acids which seek to isolate proteins related to the virus.

Ambassador Malka also said that Israel wants India to become the manufacturing hub for the newly developed testing kit. He also emphasises that the two nations are also collaborating on vaccine development, with India playing a key role in the production. He attributed India’s “very strong relative advantage in manufacturing” for the same.

Source: Swarajyamag