Coronavirus: The man who is creating a brand new test for diagnosing COVID-19

6 March 2020, 15:17 | Updated: 6 March 2020, 15:32

This is the man who is trying to create a new diagnostic test for coronavirus.

The Department of Health has revealed that 163 people in the UK have tested positive for the virus. One person is confirmed to have died, while another death is reported in Milton Keynes.

Andrew Castle spoke to Professor Mark Davis, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mologic, the lab funded by UK aid to develop coronavirus diagnostic tests.

And he revealed they are aiming to reduce the time it takes to establish whether someone has COVID-19 from two days to 10 minutes.

Professor Davis revealed: ""It's the same technology as pregnancy testing, so it's very robust. In this case, we believe it will either be a saliva sample taken by a swab or cotton ball in the mouth, or possibly a blood test, because it's all about performance."

Andrew told him that was vital as it's crucial to get this right and the professor responded: "We are a lab dealing with ebola and measles, so it's an important factor to understand that it's not the most aggressive disease we are dealing with."

It was a very entertaining and informative interview - watch it at the top of the page.