FDA authorizes 1st fully at-home COVID-19 test

[left-of-center2012]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the first fully at-home rapid COVID-19 test.

The test, made by Lucira Health in California, requires a prescription and provides results within 30 minutes, according to a statement from the FDA. Although the FDA has authorized hundreds of COVID-19 tests (including at-home tests), these earlier tests either needed to be administered by a health care provider or sent to a lab for analysis.

The new test "is the first that can be fully self-administered and provide results at home," FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, said in the statement. "This new testing option is an important diagnostic advancement to address the pandemic and reduce the public burden of disease transmission."

To use the test, people first swab themselves inside both nostrils. To get a good swab, people should tilt their head back and insert the swab tip fully inside the nostril, until they meet resistance, according to instructions from Lucira. The company says the test should not hurt, but may sometimes feel uncomfortable or tickly. After swabbing, users place the swab in a vial and swirl it around. The vial is then placed in a battery-powered device with a light-up display. After a half hour, the display lights show if the person has tested positive or negative.

According to Lucira, a study of the test's accuracy found that it correctly identified 94% of people with the virus, and correctly ruled out infection in 98% of healthy people. Lucira anticipates that each test will cost about $50 ...

https://www.livescience.com/fda-home-covid-test-lucira.html

[cilla4progress]

1. Why a prescription,

FFS?!

[napi21]

2. Great idea, but, I heard insurance does't cover the cost. For 1 person, it's sort of okay, but if

you have several people in your family, it could get real pricy, real fast!

[Mike 03]

3. It's a good start, but eventually somebody like Amazon or Google will be delivering

at home tests without prescriptions (prescriptions for COVID during a pandemic is a ridiculous and unnecessary complication).

This would also be perfect for a company like 23andMe, for tests where the sample needs to be returned, I suppose.

And if that doesn't happen, there will be a good old fashion internet black market for the tests, just like there are for drugs like Viagra. If I need to get tested, I'll do what I have to do. I'm done fucking around with this administration.

[uponit7771]

5. "without prescriptions", +1 when there's no ingestion?! Abbot was supposed to be 15 minute but its..

... only 30% accurate and they knew that before they distributed it.

The big pharma companies sometimes can be as sleazy as Trump

[uponit7771]

4. Sooooo, we can Manhattan Project a testing regime that is free and widely distributed so we can get

... back to near normal life vs a rushed vaccine.

I'll wait on the testing, seems safer IMHO