WHO Approves Rapid COVID-19 Tests That Give Results ‘In Minutes’

The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a Covid-19 test kit that show on-the-spot results in 15 to 30 minutes.

The tests, which look like a pregnancy test, with two blue lines displayed for positive, are read by a health worker.

One of the tests, from the South Korean company SD BioSensor, has just been given emergency approval by the WHO, while the other, from the US company Abbott, is expected to get it shortly for a test it manufactures in South Korea.
The newly approved Covid-19 test kits are about to be rolled out across the world, potentially saving many thousands of lives and slowing the pandemic in both poor and rich countries.

120m rapid antigen tests from two companies will be supplied to low- and middle-income countries for $5 (1926) each or even less.

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The WHO-approved rapid antigen tests are faster and easier, as well as cheaper, and could be used for screening in schools, universities and workplaces. Countries that can afford it could screen more generally. While the tests will not pick up all cases, they could allow many infectious people to be identified before they have symptoms and go into quarantine.

There are rapid antigen tests available for sale online, but these are the first to meet the WHO’s specifications and some tests have fallen short. Spain had to send back two batches of rapid tests it bought from unlicensed companies in China in March, because they were said to be faulty.

The ACT accelerator initiative is also working on bulk-buying and distributing drugs to treat Covid-19 around the world – and will share its global portfolio of vaccines when one of them is proved to work.