A rapid test for coronavirus which could give a result in just 30 minutes for people at home, has been developed by Oxford University.

The super sensitive test, which can picks up the virus in its very early stages when it might otherwise have been missed, could be rolled out to testing centres within a fortnight and could soon be available for home use.

Previous viral RNA tests took 1.5 to 2 hours to give a result slowing down the ability to respond quickly to the crisis.

The technology has been validated with clinical samples at Shenzhen Luohou People’s Hospital in China and has a 100 per cent success rate at picking up both positive and negative results.