55 Researchers in Spain’s Basque Country Create a ‘Quick’ PCR Coronavirus Test Which Only Costs 15 Euros Per Test

IN their first 10 days of testing this new method they have discovered it possesses a 92 per cent accuracy in positive cases and 100 per cent accuracy in detecting false contagions.  

More than 50 researchers from UPV, Ikerbasque, Achucarro and the Biofisika Bizkaia Foundation, together with specialists from the Biocruces and Bioaraba Institutes, have created a new PCR test (Polymerase Chain Reaction) that will allow for the increase of testing to assess the spread of the Covid-19 infection within the Basque Country.

The researchers took part in a complex online collaboration process from March 16 to March 22 which allowed them to find a new method for testing and begin trying out these new tests.

The Basque PCR test costs a total of €15 and takes around four hours to determine a result. They deemed these types of tests as the most reliable as they are designed to detect the genetic material of the virus in each patient.

The new PCR tests complement the use of the commercial testing kits which until now the Department of Health has been using. Last Tuesday, the Basque government began to use the 70,000 rapid tests which were acquired by the government from a Chinese supplier, however, they are contrasting these results with their own PCR tests as the Chinese tests could be faulty and give false negative results.