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Nuclear watchdog to help fight coronavirus

As COVID-19 spread, IAEA offered to use its nuclear science knowhow to tackle disease transmission by providing diagnostic kits, equipment and training.

A veterinary inspector in Costa Rica prepares a meat sample using nuclear technology to ensure food safety
A veterinary inspector in Costa Rica prepares a meat sample using nuclear technology to ensure food safety (AN/Laura Gil Martinez)

WASHINGTON (AN) — As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread, the International Atomic Energy Agency offered on Monday to use its science knowhow to tackle disease transmission by providing diagnostic kits, equipment and training.

Speaking in Vienna, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that scientists from countries requiring assistance would be given training in a technique using nuclear-derived machines which can identify the virus accurately “within hours," the agency said in a statement.

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