US approves test that can detect coronavirus in five minutes

A rapid test has been approved in the United States which is intended to detect within minutes whether a person is infected with the coronavirus.

Abbott Laboratories said the device is small and portable - about the size of a toaster - and can be set up outside hospitals, for instance.

The test kit can determine within five minutes whether a sample is infected with Sars-CoV-2 and 13 minutes to definitively confirm if it is negative, the US health care company said.