Poland has created its own coronavirus test that works with 100 percent efficiency, according to the National Institute of Public Health (PZH).
Dr. Luiza Handschuh of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) explained that the tests will be produced as early as in two weeks and there will be between 100,000 to 150,000 of them.
Polish health authorities began working on creating the tests to ensure the country has an adequate amount of tests during a global shortage.
More than 10,000 tests were carried out in Poland on Sunday, bringing the total up to 188,000 since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The director of the bio-organic chemistry institute of PAN, Marek Figlerowicz, stated that the Polish testing kits took three weeks to develop.
He added that the Polish government strongly supported the efforts of the scientists involved and gave the institute €3.29 million to create a diagnostics package and produce 100,000 tests.
Handschuh explained that a single test costs about €11.60 to produce and that about 1,000 free tests will be ready next week for the Ministry of Health to distribute. Mass production will begin in the following week and up to 150,000 will be delivered to the ministry and diagnostic laboratories in Poland.
She stated that the tests are currently undergoing a legalization procedure before they can be introduced for public use.
Handschuch also stressed that more public services must help carry out the tests, with her saying that it will not matter if more test kits are produced if there aren’t enough people to help accelerate the rate of testing.
She added that testing for the coronavirus using the new kits will take about six hours, during which 92 samples can be analyzed.
The scientists of the bio-organic chemistry institute of PAN in Poznań first announced the creation of a Polish prototype test on March 20.
The Polish Health Ministry announced that 260 new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed on Monday, bringing the country’s total count to 6,934.
The ministry also reported 13 new deaths. As a result, the current death toll of COVID-19 now totals 245.
