ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) — Beaumont Health announced Wednesday that a team of researchers have developed a new COVID-19 test that would detect the virus in urine, blood, saliva or a mouth-swap in 30-45 minutes.
According to Beaumont, the team was led by Dr. Laura Lamb and Dr. Michael Chancellor at the Aikens Research Center at Beaumont Research Institute.
Beaumont said they compared results to existing technology, and those results were found to be highly accurate.
"We need more testing options if we’re going to stage a successful public health response to COVID-19," Lamb said in a release. "This is a rapid test that does not require expensive machinery to run and the materials for it are relatively inexpensive. The more options we have for testing, the better."
According to Lamb, the test could be used for screening at places like nursing homes, long-term care facilities, cruise ships, school systems and more.
Beaumont said the next phase is to get corporate sponsorship to fund development of the test.
The idea came from a rapid Zika virus detection test that came up three years ago, and it was adapted for COVID-19.
“This just shows you how working in one area can jumpstart research in another,” Chancellor said.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.