16.03.2020, Sputnik
MOSCOW, March 16 (Sputnik) – The Russian Direct Investment Fund has set up a partnership with Japan that will unveil speed coronavirus tests in April, the sovereign wealth fund's head announced Monday.
"The pilot project will be launched in Moscow and Moscow region in April, with the full-scale launch planned for May," RDIF chief executive Kirill Dmitriev told reporters.
He said the project, which will see suspected coronavirus patients being tested within 30 minutes, was born out of successful cooperation between Russian and Japanese scientists.
"The test systems have been adapted both for stationary laboratories and unique portable mini labs... and can be used anywhere - from hospitals to public facilities," he explained.
Together with its foreign partners, the fund has created a center of expertise for testing and implementing solutions that will help in the fight against the COVID-19 disease, Dmitriev added.