WHO to provide 120mn COVID-19 rapid tests for poorer countries

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to more than 33.22 million worldwide, with the death toll over one million. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday (Sept. 28) that it would provide 120 million rapid tests for the virus to low-and-middle-income countries around the world through global partnership.

The tests, which cost US$5 per unit at the most, can produce reliable results in about 15 to 30 minutes, which is important in areas without laboratory facilities or in remote areas. 

According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the manufacturers Abbott ABT.N and SD Biosensor had agreed with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to "make 120 million of these new, highly portable and easy-to-use rapid COVID-19 diagnostic tests available over a period of six months."

"This will enable the expansion of testing, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that do not have laboratory facilities or enough trained health workers to carry out tests," Tedros said. "This is a vital addition to the testing capacity and especially important in areas of high transmission."