Researchers in Australia have devised a test that can determine novel coronavirus infection in about 20 minutes using blood samples in what they say is a world-first breakthrough, Reuters reports.

“Short term applications include rapid case identification and contact tracing to limit viral spread, while population screening to determine the extent of viral infection across communities is a longer term need,” the researchers said in a paper published in the journal ACS Sensors.

While the current swab test is used to identify people who are infected with the coronavirus, the agglutination assay — or analysis to detect the presence and amount of a substance in blood — can also determine if someone had been recently infected, after the infection is resolved, they said.

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