Russia Develops Specialized Test Kit for UK-Origin Variant Detection

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Russian experts announced on the 15th (local time) that they have developed a kit specialized for testing the COVID-19 variant virus originating from the UK.

According to Interfax News Agency, Russia's health, hygiene, and quarantine authority, the "Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing" (Rospotrebnadzor), stated on its website that "the reagent kit has successfully passed clinical trials and received approval for use within Russia."

The agency said, "This kit demonstrated high accuracy in clinical trials using samples infected with the UK variant virus," adding, "This technology can also be utilized in the future to develop reagent kits for testing other COVID-19 variants or different pathogens."

Earlier, the Vector Center for Virus and Biotechnology, under Rospotrebnadzor, announced last month that it had succeeded for the first time in the world in capturing images of the UK variant virus.

The COVID-19 variant virus, first discovered in southern England in September last year, is known to have genetic mutations that increase its transmissibility by up to 70% compared to the original virus.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.