
Covid-19 Rapid 15 minutes Test Kit - nreilly
https://rapidward.com
======
RapidWard
Hi all,

Real quick response.

The tests are designed to only test for SARS-CoV-2, we've trialed them against
other coronaviruses and common viruses in general. Will differentiate.

Will reveal tech on swab, but it's not the swab itself, it's combined with a
reactive reagent in the kit to show clear results.

Test differentiation is clear to medical professionals, but perhaps not
general public, this product is only to support professionals. We are in
development of a cheap and rapid antigen test that can detect ASAP before
symptoms and buys us a few days headstart. It's coming.

Testing for antibodies is still very important as people continue to shed a
viral load post recovery in many cases and this should be a clear enough
reason for that person to enter isolation of some description.

Working the hardest with what we have and will keep moving forward.

Thanks for your interest and support!

~~~
jacquesm
> Testing for antibodies is still very important as people continue to shed a
> viral load post recovery in many cases

Any hard data on how long this is the case?

~~~
tyfon
In Norway if you have symptoms but not been tested you are allowed in the
shops and work again one day after symptoms subside as "the chance of
infecting someone drops drastically at the end of the infection" [1].

If you have a positive test you still have to stay in for seven days but they
don't tell you why since the argument for the non-tested should also apply to
the ones with a positive test.

However there is no hard data here but I think these anti-body tests are
better for statistics than prevention. Maybe you could even get a "corona
passport" so that when you have had it and become immune you have more
freedom.

[1] [https://www.fhi.no/nettpub/coronavirus/rad-til-personer-
som-...](https://www.fhi.no/nettpub/coronavirus/rad-til-personer-som-er-
smittet-eller-har-vart-utsatt-for-smitte/rad-til-deg-som-har-symptomer-pa-
akutt-luftveisinfeksjon/) (Norwegian)

~~~
anonsubmit2671
Only people without symptoms and with proof of antibodies should be allowed to
move freely. Everyone else who isn't an essential worker should be isolated
until there is a vaccine. It's the only way to make H0 stay below 1.0 and stop
this crisis fastest. There are too many people flaunting the isolation orders
and risking the health of everyone for their arrogant, selfish recklessness.

~~~
Jemm
Is there actual evidence of antibodies? I have yet to see the evidence.

------
flear
This looks again like scam. A few days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22641946](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22641946)

~~~
zenexer
Yup. Two days ago I received an email from someone asking to advertise
hxxp://www.masktouch[.]com/ on our site. Compare the masks on there to the
masks on the site posted here--they're nearly identical. Compare the source
code--same style, similar comments. Even the red buttons on the sites are
similar.

I went through all the "certification" docs on both sites. I found nothing
that actually certified either of them for anything. Anything that would've
been remotely meaningful was censored (blurred).

If I'm making incorrect assumptions based on circumstantial evidence, what
choice do I have? There's nothing on these sites substantiating their claims.
If this is legitimate, you need to publish a complete paper trail that readers
here can verify.

Edit: To clarify: Calling it a "scam" might be a bit harsh, but it's
definitely misleading. There's nothing special about these tests, and there's
a reason they're cheap and not in widespread use--they're not going to do what
most people expect. This post sums it up nicely:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22642421](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22642421)
All these sites are probably just dropshipping the same items from the same
factories at heavy markups.

------
BLanen
Antibody tests are not what we need now.

What we need are PCR tests...

There is literally NOTHING to be found about "rapidward" before 2 days ago.

I'm very skeptical to your added value, and not just a middle man with a
marketing team, I don't care that it's non-profit.

You got 2 directors, a head of marketing, a head of Comms & PR, and a social
media impact advocate...

------
zmmmmm
I really wish people would develop some terminology to differentiate b/w the
antibody screen and the viral test. A cheap and rapid viral test would
significantly change the course of the pandemic but _this is not it_.

~~~
djsumdog
So because this tests for antibodies, are you saying someone could test
positive, but it's because they got it like a month ago? (e.g. this is more
similar to those tests you have to take before you start at a hospital; so
they can see what booster vaccines you need?)

~~~
wmf
Also because by the time someone has antibodies they've already spread it to
other people?

~~~
zmmmmm
Yep, the fundamental problem is that the antibody test only triggers positive
well after you would already be infectious probably for days, and most likely
symptomatic already at least. So it can't curtail the outbreak, though as
others are pointing out it can be very useful to clear people after they are
infected.

~~~
grogenaut
Just knowing: "yeah you caught it and recovered, get back out there, you're
low risk" would be super helpful. Would allow you to go volunteer at a
minimum.

------
ImaCake
Can someone more experienced with clinical work give their thoughts on the
sensitivity and accuracy of this test? The group's paper reports:

>sensitivity was 88.66% and specificity was 90.63%

My understanding is that this test will miss 12 in every 100 covid-19 infected
individuals, and it will return a false positive for 10 in every 100 patients.

My intuition says this is more than acceptable for a rapid test. But I would
love to see the opinion of someone with some clinical experience.

~~~
zenexer
I don't think the quote you provided says anything about false positives; at
least, I really hope it doesn't. A 10% false positive rate would be
ridiculous. If 0.1% of the population has SARS-CoV-2, a test has a 10% false
positive rate, and you get a positive result on that test, you only have about
a 1% chance of actually being infected.

That's a little unintuitive, but here's how it breaks down, without taking
into account false negatives:

* 10% of the population will receive a false positive

* 0.1% of the population will receive a true positive

Which category are you more likely to fall into--10% of the population or
0.1%? You're 100 times more likely to fall into the false positive category.

~~~
Moru
Can't find the article now but there was two fast tests that got forbidden in
Sweden yesterday because they miss a large percentage of the cases making it
meaningless in best case or dangerous to others in worst case. You think you
don't have corona so you go to work anyway even though you feel a bit sick.

A false negative is worse than a false positive.

~~~
zenexer
A single false negative is worse than a single false positive, but false
positives affect far more people with equivalent percentages. They’re both
problematic, but in different ways.

Our medical infrastructure is already strained. If you tell 100x the number of
actually infected people that they are infected, everything will grind time a
halt.

It’s important to find a balance. A single false negative could be
disastrous—but so could 1000 false positives. If the false negative and false
positive rate are both 10%, and 0.1% of the population is infected, there will
be 1000 false positives for every false negative. Both of those are going to
cause huge (but very different) problems.

------
pdm55
COVID-19 diagnostic tests included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic
Goods (ARTG) for legal supply in Australia

[https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-diagnostic-tests-included-
ar...](https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-diagnostic-tests-included-artg-legal-
supply-australia)

Advice re Legal supply of COVID-19 diagnostic tests in Australia

[https://www.tga.gov.au/legal-supply-covid-19-diagnostic-
test...](https://www.tga.gov.au/legal-supply-covid-19-diagnostic-tests)

~~~
teapot01
The test proposed on the website is NOT currently approved for use in
Australia, and is unlikely to be approved for self-test use.

Quote from TGA: "NOTE: In Australia, the supply of self-tests for most serious
infectious diseases, including self-tests for COVID-19, is prohibited under
the Therapeutic Goods (Excluded Purposes) Specification 2010. Testing for
serious infectious diseases is best conducted in conjunction with a healthcare
professional who can provide appropriate advice and treatment if required."

~~~
ImaCake
>The test proposed on the website is NOT currently approved for use in
Australia

I can see it right there in the table. So it's definitely approved. On the
self-test bit, of course not, even the manufacturer stresses this is for
professionals to use. Not lay people.

------
djsumdog
There was another thread about someone at a University making a testing kid
and there were replies of scientists explaining all the materials needed.

My question about these. This one specifically says it tests for "COVID-19 IgM
/ IgG" anti-bodies. Could these kits also test positive for other non-SARS-
cov2 Coronaviruses in the family, or are they accurate enough they only test
for SARS-cov2?

------
Animats
There are many companies coming out with antibody test kits. They're useful,
but not for diagnosis. They're for telling who's had the disease and is
probably now immune. Virus negative and antibody positive should indicate that
someone is no longer infected, now protected, and need no longer isolate.
Hopefully.

~~~
ImaCake
My limited understanding of this is that IgM antibodies appear against viral
infections quite early in the infection. So this could still be useful for
identifying people with active infections. Correct me if I am wrong!

------
yters
If we have the virus dna, why can't we just have a pcr or similar kit to home
test a swab? Someone can make their own pcr for $25 and synthesize significant
segments of cov2 for a couple hundred dollars. I don't understand why cov2
testing is so difficult.

~~~
mynegation
> Someone can make their own pcr for $25

Ok

> and synthesize significant segments of cov2 for a couple hundred dollars.

Please tell us more

~~~
yters
then prepare a sample from a swab and see if the cov2 segments bind with dna
from the swab

~~~
mynegation
What I meant is that I agree that one can build a simple thermal cycler (I
doubt it can be done for $25 but does not matter). I know how PCR works, what
I do not understand is the claim of synthesizing reagents at home, especially
template and primers.

~~~
yters
yes synthesizing cannot be done at home, but companies can do custom
synthsizing for relatively cheap, a couple hundred dollars for a short segment

------
Cantbekhan
A small Belgian company has developed a very similar test kit. Its test is
also claiming a result in 15 mins with around 60% sensivity.

The test in question has been fast tracked and approved by European
regulations.

Here is their product sheet: [https://www.corisbio.com/pdf/Products/SARS-
COVID-19_20200324...](https://www.corisbio.com/pdf/Products/SARS-
COVID-19_20200324.pdf)

Here is their page: [https://www.corisbio.com/Products/Human-
Field/Covid-19.php](https://www.corisbio.com/Products/Human-
Field/Covid-19.php)

It seems to be quite similar but on this one you can see their test results
and how effective it is.

Evaluation 1(n=99),95%,confidence interval:

-Sensitivity,60%,(40.7 to 76,8%)

-Sensitivity threshold,85.7%,on sampling with CT under 25(62.6 to 96.2%)

-Specificity,100%,(93.4 to 100%)

-Positive predictive value,100%,(78.1 to 100%)

-Negative predictive value,85.2%,(75.2 to 91.8%)

-Agreement,87.9%(87/99)

Evaluation 1(n=1 32),95%,confidence interval:

-Sensitivity,60.3%,(48.1 to 71.3%)

-Sensitivity threshold,76.7%,on sampling with CT under 25(61 to 87.7%)

-Specificity,98.3%,(89.7 to 99.9%)

-Positive predictive value,97.8%,(86.8 to 99.9%)

-Negative predictive value,66.7%,(55.7 to 76.2%)

-Agreement 77.3%(102/132)

It was developed by the ULB university in Brussels. It has been tested on 250
patients in two of Belgian's main university hospitals.

[https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/belgium-all-
news/1027...](https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/belgium-all-
news/102707/coronavirus-belgium-develops-15-minute-virus-test/)

This company seems to have a history of producing such tests (for Ebola,
Influenza and other pathogens) and there are numerous pubmed publications
about them...

------
TTPrograms
Why does this company sell N95 masks as well? For a company selling 3 products
that's a strange combination - unless this company is just some sort of
distributor. In the latter case, why is this news?

~~~
mike_d
Because they are trying to scam people. If you contact them they will give you
a price quote and an overseas account to wire money to.

------
anonsubmit2671
There's been a cheap, 10 minute antibody (ELISA?) test kit from SureScreen for
sometime. It only works after someone develops antibodies.

For initial infection, rtPCR is the gold standard and takes at least 45
minutes as of writing.

[https://www.surescreen.com/products/covid-19-coronavirus-
rap...](https://www.surescreen.com/products/covid-19-coronavirus-rapid-test-
cassette)

------
MuffinFlavored
What material/chemical is on the test kit cotton swab that can determine if
you Covid-19 based on a saliva sample? How does that work?

------
bionhoward
One suggestion: put figure 1A from the test kit study on your page in huge /
reactive size. Many stakeholders concern themselves with the mechanism of the
test — if you make it easy for them to know how it works, then they’re more
likely to buy. Way to go

------
LeonB
Look at the “our team” section. No one on the team has any medical or
biological experience. If they did, I’d be researching them further and
contacting them independently to verify. But there’s no one worth following
up. Flagging this as a scam.

~~~
LeonB
Further checking -- on BBC article from 2 days ago it says

> Australian firm Rapidward said that five days ago it began supplying
> Covid-19 blood tests direct from China to Switzerland"

...meaning 7 days ago. But company "RapidWard" was only registered in
Australia in the last 1 or 2 days:
[https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=67639947970](https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=67639947970)

That article also says:

> it is registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
> Agency (MHRA) in the UK

This is easily checked:

[https://medicine-seller-register.mhra.gov.uk/search-
registry...](https://medicine-seller-register.mhra.gov.uk/search-
registry/?q=rapidward.com)

> 0 results found.

~~~
jaclaz
... and rapidward.com was created on 17th March using DomainbyProxy/goDaddy:

>Raw Whois Data

Domain Name: rapidward.com

Registry Domain ID: 2504220709_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN

Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com

Registrar URL: [http://www.godaddy.com](http://www.godaddy.com)

Updated Date: 2020-03-17T05:43:49Z

Creation Date: 2020-03-17T05:43:49Z

Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-03-17T05:43:49Z

Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC

...

Registrant Name: Registration Private

Registrant Organization: Domains By Proxy, LLC

Registrant Street: DomainsByProxy.com

Registrant Street: 14455 N. Hayden Road

Registrant City: Scottsdale

Registrant State/Province: Arizona

Registrant Postal Code: 85260

Registrant Country: US

------
ccktlmazeltov
This is probably a scam, but I'm on the look out for the reason why the market
went up like this this week. It's either the typical bounce, or there is some
information to come that insider traders moved on.

------
rasz
Chinese Bioeasy also offers those, Spain and Poland tried using them, instead
of 80% sensitivity its more like 20-30%. Works if you are willing to burn 5
tests per person.

------
shp0ngle
Oh yes, TechCrunch and Yahoo! News, the high standard of medical test
reporting

