Warsaw, Poland – Poland should launch this week the production of coronavirus tests created by a team of Polish scientists in the western city of Poznan, local media reported.
Polish scientists develop coronavirus tests
Last week, Polish scientists from the Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan appear to have successfully developed reliable and efficient coronavirus tests. They were approved for production by the National Institute of Public Health on Friday.
The research was partly funded by the Polish government, which has already ordered 150,000 units. The Poznan-based Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry announced that 100,000 tests could be produced per week.
According to the team who developed the kits, which should be produced by three Polish companies, its price will be much lower than those created elsewhere: €11-17, compared to around €85 for the ones imported from China, which has supplied Poland – among other European countries – with thousands of test kits and protective equipment (masks, medical goggles, single-use medical gloves and shoe covers) over the past few weeks.
Poland lags behind in population testing
But growing concerns over the reliability and efficiency of the Covid-19 tests made in China prompted EU countries to step up their efforts to produce their own tests.
Outgoing Minister of Science and Higher Education Jaroslaw Gowin said that the coronavirus tests developed in Poland were “100% effective”.
The director of the Poznan-based Institute Marek Figlerowicz also praised the work of the 40 scientists who were in charge of developing the tests, nicknamed the “virus support group” due to its years-long research on viruses, including HIV, HVC and flu.
On Monday morning, Poland had more than 6,600 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection, and the death toll stood at 232. Health authorities have conducted around 130,000 tests so far, one of the lowest levels in Europe compared to population size.
More coronavirus updates right here.
Kafkadesk 
Warsaw, Poland – Poland should launch this week the production of coronavirus tests created by a team of Polish scientists in the western city of Poznan, local media reported.
Polish scientists develop coronavirus tests
Last week, Polish scientists from the Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan appear to have successfully developed reliable and efficient coronavirus tests. They were approved for production by the National Institute of Public Health on Friday.
The research was partly funded by the Polish government, which has already ordered 150,000 units. The Poznan-based Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry announced that 100,000 tests could be produced per week.
According to the team who developed the kits, which should be produced by three Polish companies, its price will be much lower than those created elsewhere: €11-17, compared to around €85 for the ones imported from China, which has supplied Poland – among other European countries – with thousands of test kits and protective equipment (masks, medical goggles, single-use medical gloves and shoe covers) over the past few weeks.
Poland lags behind in population testing
But growing concerns over the reliability and efficiency of the Covid-19 tests made in China prompted EU countries to step up their efforts to produce their own tests.
Outgoing Minister of Science and Higher Education Jaroslaw Gowin said that the coronavirus tests developed in Poland were “100% effective”.
The director of the Poznan-based Institute Marek Figlerowicz also praised the work of the 40 scientists who were in charge of developing the tests, nicknamed the “virus support group” due to its years-long research on viruses, including HIV, HVC and flu.
On Monday morning, Poland had more than 6,600 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection, and the death toll stood at 232. Health authorities have conducted around 130,000 tests so far, one of the lowest levels in Europe compared to population size.
More coronavirus updates right here.