Ambassador of Israel to India Ron Malka visited Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the trial site for 30-second coronavirus (COVID-19) tests, a joint venture between India and Israel, here on Friday. He was accompanied by Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India.
RML Hospital is one of the testing sites, which have started trials of four different kinds of technologies that have the potential to detect COVID-19 in as less as 30 seconds, noted a release issued by the Israel Embassy.
Israeli team arrives for trials of four rapid COVID-19 tests, brings high-tech equipment
It added that these non-invasive technologies include a voice test that uses artificial intelligence to identify changes in the patient’s voice, a breath analyser test that requires the patient to blow into a tube and detects the virus using terra-hertz waves, isothermal testing that enables identification of the virus in a saliva sample, and a test using polyamino acids that seeks to isolate proteins related to COVID-19. “These trials are being conducted on a large sample of patients in India. If the results validate the effectiveness of the tests, they will be mass manufactured in India and marketed to the world by Israel and India jointly,” said the release.
Speaking on his visit to the testing site, Mr. Malka, said, “If even one of these tests is successful in detecting the virus in as less as half a minute, it will be the biggest breakthrough in COVID-19 identification that the world has been waiting for. By combining advanced Israeli and Indian technology and India’s manufacturing prowess we can find a way to resume our lives and exist alongside the virus till a vaccine is developed.”
