With the number of COVID-19 infections continuing to grow in Japan and the nation's efforts to contain the outbreak having yet to show results, some are asking whether current testing policy is adequate to manage the pandemic.
Starting Monday, laboratories and medical institutions tasked with testing for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have been able to purchase kits that can detect the virus in 15 minutes — far quicker than the tests currently used at facilities designated to treat COVID-19 patients.
A spokeswoman for textile and chemical product company Kurabo Industries Ltd., which sells the 15-minute test kits developed by a Chinese firm, said it has the capacity to supply 10,000 tests per day and may increase production should the need arise.