Business and industry minister Nadhim Zahawi has said today that new rapid tests for detecting Covid-19 could be used in schools.

The new LamPORE test will be able to process swab and saliva samples to detect the presence of Covid-19 in 60 to 90 minutes.

Appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Mr Zahawi was asked if the tests could be part of the plan to get children back to school.

Boris Johnson: ‘School reopening a national priority’

Related: Heads hit out over lack of cash for September opening

Guidance: ‘Extremely vulnerable’ teachers expected back in school

He said: “Yes, they can be rolled out to other settings, including schools,” adding, “they can be administered without someone having technical abilities”.

Pressed on whether it is part of the plan for schools, Mr Zahawi said: “There is a plan already for schools, and we’re going to have children back at school, 1 September.

“This is a further enhancement of our capabilities, and as we roll this out we will obviously be looking at other settings, including schools, to roll it out into.”

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, said LamPORE could be used to test up to 1,000 school children in a day.

“It’s the best of its kind anywhere in the world,” he is reported as saying in The Sun.

“It can be distributed, is relatively fast and doesn’t cost the earth.

“It will be a real step forward if deployed properly.

“Let’s say 1,000 kids in a school - you could test them in a day.”