The Nigerian government has developed the Sars-CoV-2 isothermal molecular assay (SIMA) test kit to improve its testing capacity for COVID-19. A Polity report quotes Health Minister Olorunnimbe Mamora said the test kit developed by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) can produce results in less than 40 minutes.
Mamora said this is faster than the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which is currently the main source of testing in the country. This method of testing takes several hours to produce results.
“The Sars-CoV-2 isothermal molecular assay (SIMA) can be performed by low-skilled personnel with minimum training,” Mamora said.
He said the kit is also 10 times cheaper than PCR and can be deployed for point-of-care detection and surveillance. Mamora added that Nigeria is still struggling to ramp up its COVID-19 testing, mainly due to the lack of adequate equipment and reagents needed to carry out the PCR test.
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/nigeria-develops-its-own-covid-19-test-kit-2020-10-02"]Full Polity report[/link]