(Israel21c via JNS) Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev recently developed a rapid and cost-effective test to identify COVID-19’s British and South African variants within hours instead of days, enabling effective response and containment measures.

Standard coronavirus-variants testing involves sequencing the entire virus genome, a process that is expensive and time-consuming. The new test is based on the gene deletion that differentiates the South African or British strains of the virus from the original SARS-CoV-2.