MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. A test system capable of detecting the mutated British strain of the coronavirus is ready for registration, Head of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova reported at a session of the presidium of the state coordination council to control the coronavirus incidence in the Russian Federation on Tuesday.
"A new test system is ready for registration which can detect a new variant of the British strain through PCR testing. This is a platform solution which will allow us in case of any subsequent mutation to create a PCR test system without spending vast sums on sequencing, although we do use this method as well to monitor the situation and to conduct a large number of tests in order to detect mutated strains," she said.
Additionally, an immunochromatographic test system for detection of a viral antigen is also ready to be registered. The top sanitary doctor specified that the test system detecting an antigen "at such a high level" was created in Russia for the first time ever. "An enzymatic base which hasn’t existed in Russia previously was created specifically for it," she said.
The test system for detection of the British strain of the coronavirus was developed by the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing. It is capable of performing the test in 1.5 hours since the moment of collecting a swab.
Earlier, Director of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Vasily Akimkin at a meeting with leading epidemiologists and virologists stated that a test system capable of detecting the British strain of the coronavirus will be sent for registration in the near future.