Feb. 19, 2020—Randox Laboratories has introduced a test for the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus and nine other respiratory viruses.
The biochip tests, from one patient sample, for COVID-19 (previously named 2019-nCoV), coronavirus 229E/NL63, coronavirus OC43/HKUI, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), pan-coronavirus (SARS, SARS like, COVID-19), adenovirus A/B/C/D/E, enterovirus A/B/C, influenza A, influenza B, and rhinovirus A/B.
“Current technologies for the diagnosis of coronavirus are designed simply to detect the presence or lack of COVID-19 and therefore neglect to differentiate between this strain and other respiratory infections,” Peter FitzGerald, MD, managing director of Randox Laboratories, said in a press release. “We have therefore developed an extended Viral Respiratory Infection Array that tests simultaneously for COVID-19 and nine other viruses. This will eliminate the need for multiple back-and-forth tests before the root cause of symptoms is found and empower clinicians to make fast and informed decisions.”
The test is available on the Randox Evidence Investigator and has a turnaround time of five hours.