Rzeszów-Jasionka airport in southeast Poland will test a new device that its maker claims can determine whether someone has coronavirus in less than a minute. The “Covid Detector”, which works like a breathalyser, is designed and produced by Polish company ML System S.A.
“This is great news for passengers, who will be able to quickly and non-invasively undergo a coronavirus test after arriving,” said Adam Hamryszczak, the airport’s director. He says that the device will be put into use as soon as it receives all the required authorisations.
The Covid Detector works by analysing exhaled air in real time for the spectrum characteristic for SARS-CoV-2 virus. The whole testing process takes less than a minute and the results are then immediately displayed on the screen.
Last week, ML System announced the results of clinical trials of its device. They showed that its specificity (the ability to correctly identify patients that do not have the disease) was 97.15%. That is above the 97% threshold recommended by Poland’s state Agency for Health Technology Assessment (AOTMiT).
Its sensitivity (the ability to correctly identify patients that have the disease) of 86.86% was, however, below AOTMiT’s recommended minimum of 90%, reports Bankier.pl, a financial news website. The World Health Organisation, however, recommends a minimum of 80% for rapid antigen tests.
Prezentacja Covid Detectora tym razem bez prezydentahttps://t.co/GQEkv3MEgM
— Adam Hajdamowicz (@a_hajdamowicz) May 13, 2021
“Quick diagnostics in public places will be of key importance in the fight against the coronavirus and its mutations – and against other pathogens in the future,” said Dawid Cycoń, CEO of ML System.
He also noted that “the digital form of genetic material collected from thousands of people will provide unprecedented research and analytical possibilities for the detection many diseases, not only the coronavirus”.
Hamryszczak hopes that instant, on-the-spot COVID-19 testing could reduce the stress of air travel and increase passengers numbers, which have plummeted during the pandemic. The airport is planning to place the device in an open area that is accessible to everyone, not only passengers.
Earlier this year, President Andrzej Duda visited ML System’s premises near Rzeszów, where he was shown the Covid Detector. Duda called the device, which was still yet to be tested, a “revolution” and the “pride of Poland”.
“It is an exceptional example of innovative thinking, we can even say it is brilliant, taking into account what coronavirus testing looks like at the moment,” the president said.
After the president’s visit, a number of companies and representatives of foreign governments expressed their interest in the device and ML System’s stock listing went up significantly, according to Cycoń.
Main image credit: rzeszowairport.pl
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
