Over the past week and a half, Israel has begun using lab equipment that allows coronavirus tests to be analyzed within a record 45 minutes, instead of the usual 3-4 hours, Israel Hayom reported.
According to the report, over 40 hospitals and geriatric centers are already using the new tests.
Efficient analysis of coronavirus tests, together with a high number of test conducted and epidemiological investigations, form one of the most important aspects of Israel's exit strategy. The new tests do not replace the mass testing, and are used mostly for urgent cases, such as a woman arriving at a hospital to give birth, or elderly people arriving for hospitalization from nursing homes, as well as tests for medical staff.
The new test, from cepheid GeneXpert, was fast-tracked through the approval process and received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approximately one month ago. The kit can be used with existing lab equipment for the analysis, and can analyze 16 tests at once.
The FDA has restricted export of the test equipment, but Israel's Medison company has succeeded in importing it via Sweden.
Professor Mitchell James Schwaber, of the Health Ministry's National Center for the Prevention of Infection, was quoted in Israel Hayom as saying: "In my estimation, at this point in the management of this plague, the ability to quickly test as many people as possible is crucial. This ability has an enormous influence on our ability to diagnose medical staffs, on our hospitalization system, geriatrics, psychiatrics, and in the community. In addition, quick diagnosis of cases in the wider population is crucial to our ability to quickly isolate those who are infected and reach their contacts in real time - something which changes the rules of the game."
"The tests from the US company CEPHEID received the FDA's approval a month ago, and naturally the demand for them is enormous, both within the US and outside it," said Meir Jakobsohn, Medison's Founder and CEO. "The test is accurate and good quality, and the Health and Defense ministries have called it a 'game-changer' with regards to the location and diagnosis of coronavirus. I am happy that we succeeded in quickly ensuring that there will be a regular supply. Our systems have been used in hospitals around Israel for years already, so these tests went into immediate use around the country."