CAPE TOWN- Allan Gray Fellows Daniel Ndima and Dineo Lioma, through their company CapeBio, have created a Covid-19 test kit that gives results in 65 minutes.
The qCPR kits come at the perfect time allowing the country to weather the Covid-19 pandemic after the infection rate increased to 3300 with 58 deaths, on Monday.
Ndima, who is the chief executive of CapeBio, said the ability to obtain rapid test results would provide a clearer picture of viral infections so that interventions with greater effectiveness could be done.
“One of our major challenges is our reliance on imported tests. Most countries are currently experiencing issues with supply and demand, which their respective governments are controlling with newly introduced trade regulations.
“This has caused delays in the delivery of imported testing kits and protective gears, and may impact on the delivery of vaccines once they have passed clinical trials," said Ndima.
He said a locally manufactured products could mitigate the reliance on overseas imports, ensuring that testing reagents could be accessed quickly and without a wait. He added that the local tests are more affordable than international products.
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