A US company announced on Friday that it had invented a "portable" device that is able to determine the infection of people with the emerging coronavirus in five minutes, or confirm that it was not infected in 13 minutes.
Abbott Laboratories said in a statement that the US Food and Drug Administration had given it permission to start producing these devices, which it will be able to provide to health care workers early next week.
The tests will be performed using a mobile device the size of a small toaster that works on molecular technology.
"The Coved 19 epidemic will be fought on multiple fronts, and this device will assist in dealing with the epidemic by being able to deliver results in minutes," said company official Robert Ford.
Thanks to its compact size, the device can be used outside hospitals, he added.
However, this device did not receive a green light from the US Food and Drug Administration. The company said it has received approval for use in accredited laboratories and only emergency health care providers.
