Germany's Bosch says it has quick coronavirus test

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, the race is on to find a quick and effective test.

Doctors say finding one could be a game changer in battling the disease.

Now one German firm says it's making progress.

Robert Bosch is perhaps better known for tools and car parts.

But it's a medical equipment supplier too.

And it claims its Vivalytic analyser can get results fast.

Project manager Jochen Rupp:

(SOUNDBITE) (German) BOSCH HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS PROJECT MANAGER FOR "VIVALYTIC" ANALYSIS DEVICE, JOCHEN RUPP, SAYING:

"One of the biggest problems is speed. Current tests require a logistics and a transport chain and normally, it takes 24 to 48 hours from the time a sample is taken until the result. This test here takes two and a half hours and it can be put to work where it's needed, in other words where the patient is."

The device analyses samples put into a cartridge.

Bosch says it's 95% accurate.

Several other companies are working on their own automated systems.

But some scientists say that it may be hard to do such tests on the scale required.

Christian Drosten is a Berlin-based virus expert:

(SOUNDBITE) (German) BERLIN RESEARCH VIROLOGIST AT CHARITE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, CHRISTIAN DROSTEN, SAYING:

"You can't test hundreds of samples with them and some of them can't be ordered in large quantities so for the time being, we will have to rely on conventional lab-based tests."

The need for an effective test is certainly pressing, not least in Germany.

As of Friday morning (March 27) it had over 42-thousand cases, and had seen 253 deaths.