Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) unveiled on Wednesday a new home-grown device capable of detecting individuals infected with coronavirus remotely and without blood tests, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The device can detect infected individuals as well as contaminated areas within a 100-meter range, the head of the IRGC Hossein Salami said.

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“The device is able to detect every coronavirus infection case within a 100-meter radius by creating a magnetic field and using a bipolar virus inside the device,” Salami said.

“When the device’s antenna is pointed at a specific location, it will detect the contaminated spot within five seconds,” he added.

“This device has been tested in various hospitals and has an 80 percent accuracy level,” said Salami.

The device was developed by members of the Basij, the paramilitary arm of the IRGC, he said.

“This device can be a good basis for detecting not just coronavirus, but any virus,” said Salami.

In other countries, the accepted testing method is typically a nasal swab that collects cells from deep in a patient’s nose. The sample is then tested in a lab where it is determined if a patient has coronavirus.

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Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:54 - GMT 06:54