NHS Tayside looking to use 12-minute coronavirus test

NHS Tayside is looking to incorporate the use of tests which can detect COVID-19 within 12 minutes.

The news was revealed at a virtual meeting of NHS Tayside’s board on Thursday, August 27.

Dr Emma Fletcher, NHS Tayside’s associate director of public health, told the board there was a lot of work going on as to how best to implement the LumiraDx machines.

Earlier this week the Scottish Government announced a £6.76 million deal with manufacturing firm LumiraDx to buy machines capable of turning around COVID-19 tests within 12 minutes.

LumiraDx is a UK-based life sciences company with headquarters in London, research and development and manufacturing in Stirling and sales offices in Arbroath. The test detects COVID-19 antigen protein from a nasal swab and then rapidly produces results within 12 minutes in symptomatic patients.

Dr Fletcher said there was a lot of work going on about how to best implement the machines. She said:“We would certainly be incorporating that into our approach going forward.”

A statement from the chief executive and chairman of LumiraDx Ron Zwanziger said:“We designed our high-sensitivity Platform to deliver fast, accurate and actionable diagnostic results near to the patient.

“We are proud to have a strong presence in Scotland with our research and manufacturing teams here and look forward to working with Scotland’s health systems to address the COVID-19 crisis in a way that’s affordable and accessible in community care settings.”