Radio Free Europe By Andy Heil 4/18/2020
What's A 'Reagent' And Why Is It Delaying Expanded Coronavirus Testing?
They're the tip of the testing spear in the fight against the coronavirus.
Reagents.
It's a fancy word for the main ingredients of any chemical-based test, which in this pandemic includes inorganic solutions as well as enzymes, probes, and primers created to match the coronavirus's genome.
And they are a necessity for the coronavirus test kits that are vital to combating COVID-19, the pneumonia-like disease that by April 18 had killed more than 156,000 of its 2.2 million confirmed sufferers since the coronavirus jumped to humans in central China in November.
The importance of reagents will continue to outstrip supplies in many places as the race for safe and effective vaccines and treatment continue and governments embrace "testing, testing, testing" while they try to lead billions of people out of the great lockdown.
More:
https://www.rferl.org/a/coronavirus-reagent-delaying-expanded-coronavirus-testing-/30563198.html
