Oxford develops five-minute COVID-19 rapid antigen test

Scientists from Oxford University have now developed a rapid antigen test for the novel coronavirus which can complete the whole process within five minutes.

The researchers released the details on Thursday and also said that the test can also be used in mass testing at airports and businesses.

This device will be able to detect and distinguish the novel coronavirus from other viruses with high accuracy, the researchers said in a pre-print study.

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"Our method quickly detects intact virus particles," said Professor Achilles Kapanidis, at Oxford's Department of Physics, adding that this meant the test would be "simple, extremely rapid, and cost-effective".

Researchers are hoping that the production and testing of the device will hopefully start in early 2021 and it might be available for mass use within six months.

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Rapid antigen tests have been quite popular and useful in the last few months to test the novel coronavirus. The ones in use are being developed to become cheaper, but researchers are hoping this will be cheaper than the rest of the available devices.

The test will prove out to be successsful especially during the winter season when the coronavirus came attain another peak.