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President Joe Biden’s administration has announced the first at-home Covid-19 test. The test has a 95% accuracy rate and can generate a result in 15 minutes.
According to Andy Slavitt, a temporary Senior Adviser on Covid-19, the test “was created on a testing platform developed in the NIH RADx Initiative.”
“Now these are over-the-counter self-performed test kits that could detect covid with roughly 95% accuracy, within 15 minutes,” he said. “They could be used if you feel symptoms of Covid, and also for screening for people without symptoms so they could safely go to work, to school, and to events.”
Slavitt noted that the test is performed using a mid-turbinate nasal swab, which is “less invasive” than previous swabs. After an individual administers the nasal swab, they can put the sample in a digital analyzer that will send a result to a smartphone in 15 minutes.
“Making it easier to use tests available to every American is a high priority with obvious benefits,” Slavitt noted.
The Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services have struck a $230 million deal with the Australian company Ellume to ramp up production of the tests.
“Thanks to this contract, they’ll be able to scale production to manufacture more than 19 million test kits per month by the end of the year,8.5 million of which are guaranteed to the U.S. Government,” Slavitt added.
You can watch the announcement below.
Biden White House announces first at home COVID test with 95% accuracy in 15 minutes. pic.twitter.com/qXEiU70DiJ
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 1, 2021
At least 441,409 individuals have died of Covid-19 in the United States since the pandemic began. The news of these tests comes as the country has noted declining case numbers even while the death rate remains high.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
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