Allowing people to test themselves quickly and accurately at home is possible, experts say. And it could change the course of the pandemic until vaccines become available.
— an extension of the Global Translations newsletter. Each week we track major issues facing the globe.Imagine a self-administered coronavirus test, done at home, with results available in minutes, instead of the days or sometimes weeks people are currently waiting.Health experts believe this kind of affordable and rapid self-testing — similar to tests detecting pregnancy or HIV — could change the course of the pandemic until vaccines become available.
It took 40 years to convert the idea of HIV self-tests into a widely available test. But despite false starts — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in April such tests would be available within weeks — the coronavirus version of the technology could be ready for production by the end of the year.The quality of self-tests is defined by both the accuracy of the test and how easy it is for regular people to use it, said Emma Hannay of the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics .
The WHO’s rapid diagnostic test standard requires the test to correctly identify at least 70 percent of the people who have the virus. And while that is lower than the 95 percent rate achieved by the standard nasal test known as PCR, which must be administered by medical professionals, the self-tests could catch infected people more quickly, the experts argue.
“The regulatory process for placing a Covid-19 self-test on the market is more tightly controlled and requires validation with lay users, which is a time-consuming process — usually taking up to six months under normal circumstances, on top of the usual development cycle,” he said.
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