An Austrian start-up company has created a COVID-19 test kit for live events.
testFWRD, based in Vienna, Austria, aims to “safely reopen the tourism industry,” including the return of live events. They plan to do this with their COVID-19 test kit which will create “risk-free spaces” by testing 80,000 people.
Resident Advisor reported the news and obtained a statement from company co-founder, Veit-Ander Aichbichler. He states:
“This is the only viable—and approved by local governments—solution from a safety perspective to reopen events.”
The COVID-19 test kit functions differently from typical tests that require a nasal swab. Instead, testFWRD requires testers to gargle for about 60 seconds. Aichbichler believes this method will make the testing process “quicker, cheaper, and painless.”
Hennes Weiss, the founder of Croatia’s Lighthouse Festival, is a partner of Aichbichler’s for testFWRD. They both developed the test kit with Professor Dr. Christoph Steininger, a virologist at the Medical University of Vienna.
Read all about the test kit at the official company website.