Missing component in Mossad's coronavirus test kits developed in Israel

"We should not settle for just this solution, we should also look for additional production sources for the test kits."

By CELIA JEAN
A medical technologist tests a respiratory panel at Northwell Health Labs, where the same test will be used on the COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in Lake Success, New York (photo credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)
A medical technologist tests a respiratory panel at Northwell Health Labs, where the same test will be used on the COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in Lake Success, New York
(photo credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)
The Health Ministry has gave approval Friday morning to the Israeli company Nova Med for manufacturing the missing component in the 100,000 coronavirus test kits that the Mossad brought to Israel from abroad on Wednesday night. 
Jerusalem-based Nova Med is expected to produce up to 5,000 swab tests starting Sunday. 
Specifically, the tests were missing a patented liquid into which the testing sticks need to be dipped before a screening can be administered, a Magen David Adom spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post. Without it, the test cannot be done. 
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would use "his connections around the world now” to try to obtain this liquid as early as Friday, according to an MDA spokesperson. 
While Health Minister Yaakov Litzman praised both the ministry and the company for finding a quick solution, Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov said that "we should not just settle for just this solution, we should also look for additional production sources for the test kits."
Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this post.