The Federal Government has, Thursday, said in the coming months, five million farmers will be tested with the RNA-Swift kits, a test kit to identify SARS-CoV-2, from the first 10 million kits to be produced.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, made this known during a press conference in Abuja where he said the indigenous development and validation of RNA-Swift, the causative agent for COVID-19.
He adds, “I want to confirm to you that the RNA-Swift product team is in consultation with the African Development Bank for the funding of an African-wide testing programme for COVID-19 and the establishment for RNA-Swift production in Nigeria.”
The minister further emphasised that the move is to accelerate the capacity to test people and help effectively manage the coronavirus pandemic.
“The RNA-Swift has amazing precision for the detection of SARS-COV-2 and will be commercially available at a price that places it ahead of competitors in terms of sensitivity and affordability,” he says.
