FDA Authorizes Rapid-Result Coronavirus Test
March 30, 2020 - The
FDA has authorized a coronavirus test that the manufacturer says can tell if someone is infected with the virus within 5 minutes.
The test is meant to be used in places like a doctor's
office, emergency room, or urgent care center. The test will provide
results through a platform currently used by many of those locations for
tests like flu and strep, instead of sending the throat or nasal swab
to a lab for analysis.
The FDA's emergency use authorization (EUA), issued on
Friday, does not mean that the FDA has approved the test, but that it is
allowing its use because of the coronavirus outbreak.
In a
news release,
Abbott Diagnostics Scarborough in Illinois said the test can tell if a
person has the coronavirus in as little as 5 minutes and tell if someone
doesn't have the virus in 13 minutes.
A shortage of tests has hindered efforts to contain the
virus in the U.S, which leads the world with more than 100,000 cases of
COVID-19. Testing has been focused on priority groups, such as
hospitalized patients and health care professionals with symptoms,
according to
CDC guidelines.
Abbott said it will make the tests available to health care
providers next week and work with the government to send the tests to
areas where they're most needed.