The company also claims the same level of specificity as the PCR test. However, no reports have been released by the company publicly to verify these results.
Currently, the Victorian government and Lumos expect to produce one million tests a month from April, three million from August with full production expected to commence from October onwards for up to 50 million RATs each year.
If approved, the state government promises to secure priority supply of several million tests from Lumos to meet consumer demand.
“Being able to scale up production so quickly shows the strength of Victoria’s advanced manufacturing capabilities,” the state premier, Daniel Andrews said on Feb. 2.
The state government stated that this project will create at least 70 ongoing jobs, the premier of the state, Daniel Andrews said that this project “will protect and secure the state’s supply chain and create local jobs.”
The Labor government has also provided $268.5 million in funding into COVID-19 treatment research and is supporting a mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility to be built in Melbourne by 2024.
The news of this comes as the Labor Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese promised free RATs for Australians if he succeeds at the election expected in May of 2022.
The free RATs would be limited and could be accessed through Medicare.
Albanese also called for local manufacturing of RATs in Australia stating that Australians “need to manufacture rapid engines and tests here. One of the lessons of this pandemic is that we need to be more self-reliant.” The Labor Party has proposed a National Reconstruction Fund which will support Australia-made manufacturing.