Israeli firm says it’s working on 1-hour coronavirus test

Israeli firm AID Genomics says it is working on a one-hour COVID-19 test, joining several other firms around the world also seeking to cut down on testing times.

“We took the critical parts of the process, and saw how we could shorten the time, and do the tests in a collective way,” head scientist  Yitzhak Haviv says.

He says some tests can be shortened to be even faster. The new tests are expected to be rolled out in coming weeks, according to the channel.

Other firms and researchers in Israel and around the world have announced plans for one-hour tests in the past several months, though none are yet widely available here. Tests in Israel currently take around a day for results to come back.

On Monday, the prime minister reiterated the government’s goal of having a 48-hour window for identifying and performing contact tracing on new cases.

AID Genomics provides lab testing services, together with Chinese partner BGI.