New coronavirus test can get results in as little as two hours, experts say

Scientists with the Medical College of Georgia have invented a new coronavirus test that can get results in as little as two hours.

Augusta University announced Thursday that the novel test, developed just days ago by a team of researchers at the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory, is already being used for patients of the AU Health System.

Current coronavirus testing can take days or more from the moment a patient’s saliva swab is collected and tested, to the time they know if they’re infected.

Around the world, researchers funded by governments, universities or private businesses are all scrambling to make better, faster coronavirus tests.

A Swiss pharmaceutical company says their test is 10 times faster than the standard, McClatchy News reported. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health is helping fund a San Diego-based corporation working on its own diagnostic test — which will boast a 30-minute turnaround for results, according to Reuters.

Time is critical. The faster medical professionals can identify a patient with COVID-19, the less opportunity they have to spread it, according to Ravindra Kolhe, lab director at the Georgia Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory.

“We want patients and physicians in our community to have timely access to information that will ultimately benefit us all by helping limit spread of the virus,” Kolhe said.

The lab is able to complete 72 tests in a 24-hour period and is working to increase testing capacity up to 500, according to Augusta University.

“As we have all seen in the news, identifying individuals infected with this virus within a few hours and initiating the quarantine protocol can have a huge impact on infection spread and potentially patient outcomes,” Kolhe said. “We are now running tests around the clock.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 9:42 AM with the headline "New coronavirus test can get results in as little as two hours, experts say."