Pakistani startup performs Covid-19 test in $12 only

A local Pakistani startup named Find My Doctor will perform $12 coronavirus testing and produce results in just 15 minutes. The chief executive of the healthcare company says they have screened twenty thousand people in Karachi and Hyderabad already. 

The Pakistani startup for teleheath company essentially links patients to local doctors by enabling them to book appointments and consultation accompanied only by a few taps. Not only has the service received a lot of popularity for coronavirus testing but it is famous for this. Saad Siddiqui, Find My Doctor’s chief executive, says the service was launched in Islamabad and Lahore too. 

Our team simply pricks the index finger of a patient and drops the blood sample on the rapid testing kit to get the result in less than 15 minutes,” he said. “Our doctors and health care professionals are also trained to take a sample for the lab test if necessary and deliver the results at home, says chief executive of Find My Doctor. 

In the South Asian country, molecular diagnostic tests are the most popular method of testing and depend on samples obtained from patients using nasal swabs. The specimens are then examined using the Polymerase Chain Reaction ( PCR) process, which detects viral RNA 

The doctor uses blood samples from a finger prick that can produce results much quicker than the normal molecular testing process. The latter includes symptomatic patient nasal swabs, which are then analyzed using a ‘polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that detects the RNA. It takes 48 hours to be treated atleast and costs up to PKR 8000 to 10,000.