Vancouver-based RESAAS Services has secured the exclusive license to distribute COVID-19 rapid tests to real estate agents worldwide. The tests, which have yet to be approved by Health Canada or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, show whether COVID-19 is present in eight minutes, the company says. It also concludes if the antibody is present.
The tests are manufactured by PCL, a publicly-traded medical company headquartered in South Korea, the company says. Health authorities have approved the 8-Minute Rapid Test in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Spain and 20 other countries. RESAAS says it is now shipping the test to agents in 27 countries.
The company says the “easy-to-read finger-prick tests” have proven to be 98-per-cent accurate. Once approved, the tests will be sold for $50 US per kit in the United States. Canadian pricing is pending approval. RESAAS has access to one million units immediately available for sale.
“RESAAS has received significant interest from global real estate companies as healthcare and industry regulations continually evolve,” says company CEO Tom Rossiter. “RESAAS remains committed to providing solutions to enable agents to safely return to face-to-face business, continually demonstrating the many benefits of RESAAS membership. In parallel to our COVID-19 testing plan already underway in the United States, our new 8-minute Rapid Test allows us to bring superior COVID-19 testing to a range of countries overseas where RESAAS already has several agents and customers.”
The accuracy of the test kits has been proven by PCL’s own research across four different institutions and yields 98.5-per-cent accuracy from over 2,400 individual tests, the company says.
RESAAS is a “technology platform that enables real estate brokerages, franchises and associations to bring real-time communication, new business opportunities and unique data to their agents on a global basis,” it says.
