Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has congratulated the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Incas Diagnostics for their “breakthrough” development of a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) for COVID-19.

“Uniquely, this KNUST RDT is able to detect asymptomatic cases and takes up to 15 – 20 minutes to produce results”, the vice-president said.

“So proud of our Ghanaian scientists for this breakthrough”, he added.

The feat was announced in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of KNUST, Dr Daniel Norris Bekoe.

The statement said the creation of the test kit is in line with Ghana’s objectives in the fight against the coronavirus, specifically to “contain the spread of the virus, inspire the expansion of domestic capability and deepen self-reliance”.

The device, according to the statement, only needs a finger-prick drop of blood from the individual and “detects two different types of antibodies produced by the body to fight off the COVID-19 infection about seven days after infection and also in those who have been exposed to the virus but not showing any symptoms (asymptomatic) or recovered from the infection”.

It further stated that it “would enable those tested to know their results in a shorter time to enable decision-making in real-time by health authorities”.

The COVID-19 RDT is, however, still being optimised and its “developers are currently engaging the Food and Drugs Authority for the necessary regulatory framework”.