"The test does not need a commercial kit and the previous supply problems are ruled out," stressed the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), which states that "there will be no supply problems to produce these kits, unlike other tests." It is a RT-PCR type test.

As explained by the UPV/EHU, CRP is the technique that increases the small amounts of genetic material, in this case the Covid-19 virus, and in the RT-PCR variant of this technique "allows the quantitative detection of this genetic material and, therefore, the differentiation between people without virus and infected".

A total of 55 researchers from the Network started their work in the first week of confinement, under the institutional support of the UPV. After revisions of the articles published in the world and the telematic debates about them, an action plan was designed and six laboratories were adapted with the resources of these organizations, fulfilling all the requirements that a study of this type must meet.

Subsequently, Osakidetza started with samples of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and in ten more days has managed to produce this new test, which according to its managers offers "100% specificity and 92% sensitivity". Sensitivity indicates the ability to detect positive cases, while specificity indicates the degree of reliability of the test, i.e. the degree to which it will give negative results to uninfected people.

It is estimated that the test carried out by this working group will cost EUR 15 per sample and it takes less than four hours to receive the response from the person concerned. In addition, according to those responsible, this test can be performed in many laboratories in other CAV research centres, even in the hospitals themselves.

In the opinion of Ugo Mayor, researcher at Ikerbasque at the UPV/EHU and coordinator of the initiative, "developing this alternative test in auzolan underlines the importance of research and science, as well as its real impact on the welfare of society".