This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. The new strain, known as Omicron, caused widespread panic when scientists discovered it had 50 mutations from the original COVID- 19 identified in Wuhan, with 30 of those on the spike protein. Preliminary data shows that this variant is more transmissible than the Beta or Delta variants and could potentially evade immunity. The World Health Organisation WHO declared Omicron a variant of concern and warned it has a higher risk of re-infection than other variants of concern. Newcastle - based company QuantuMDx Group Limited said that dynamic testing methods can identify Covid as it changes over time. QuantuMDx confirmed on Friday that their testing methods, including a revolutionary rapid PCR test Q-POC, had the capacity to detect the new Omicron variant. CEO of QuantuMDx, Jonathan O Halloran, told Express.co. uk: Following the detection of this new variant, we have performed a detailed analysis of the mutations to assess the reliability of our existing tests and Q-POC. Our assay design strategy, to include three targets where most only target one or two regions of the SARS-CoV- 2 genome, is being proven to be a robust one and with all new variants continually emerging, we are confident that our tests and device will be able to detect all known variants. O Halloran, a geneticist, explained that his company spent more time looking at bioinformatics to design a variant-proof test. Three different genes were targeted in each test, which was a variant-proof test by QuantuMDx. They deliberately focused on parts of the genome that do not mutate easily, but there are still two other targets to test for if one of them does mutate. The Q-POC rapid PCR test, which delivers a lab-standard result in only 30 minutes, could play a significant role in containing the virus and keeping anxious Britons out of a Christmas lock-down, according to Mr O Halloran.
He said that testing, preferably rapid PCR testing like Q-POC, will help keep us safe and keep us away from lock-downs. It is important that we keep testing. I think the key aspect of a lockdown is that our healthcare service gets overrun. That's hospital ICU admissions, but also our wonderful NHS staff catching Covid. We're going to be in a situation where the numbers are going to go right the way through the roof. It's important to keep the hospitals safe for our staff, because they're going to be important.
The best way to ensure that staff are safe is by using our tests at the triage step, so when people come in, they can quickly get a Covid test and be sent to the right wards or isolated or sent home. There are too many false negatives if we rely on lateral flow. People who are still infectious will be missed. Too many false positives mean that people who need urgent medical attention will be sent home. That will take five hours and is not practical if we wait for lab-based PCR tests. The only way of doing it is to perform rapid PCR tests that Q-POC provides.