C
Chris Smith
Guest
- Coronavirus testing at home might soon become a reality, as the FDA has established guidelines for COVID-19 tests that can be self-administered.
- The tests should be reliable, affordable, and easy to use. Several companies are working on at-home tests for COVID-19, but it may take a few months until the FDA approves successful candidates.
- At-home coronavirus testing could deliver much faster responses than traditional PCR testing that can experience significant delays. Patients could isolate and seek medical help faster than before.
One of the reasons the novel coronavirus is surging in various US states and other regions of the world is that there isn't enough testing available. The scarcity of COVID-19 tests in the early months of the pandemic has been largely fixed. However, there's still not enough testing to properly screen contacts and communities and ensure faster diagnoses. Contrary to what President Trump keeps saying, the increase in testing is not responsible for the rise in cases. Yes, the more you test, the more cases you'll find, but if there's no community transmission, the percentage of positives would be lower and lower as you increase testing. That's yet to happen in the states that are reporting a record number of cases.
The only way to contain the disease, especially if people are increasingly more resistant to face masks and social distancing, is to increase testing and provide quick results. That way, the people who do get infected will be able to isolate sooner and seek treatment faster. Also, rapid testing would prevent asymptomatic carriers from infecting others. The good news is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a game-changing testing initiative. The bad news is that it may be months before we see any results.
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FDA approves game-changing at-home coronavirus testing initiative originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 30 Jul 2020 at 15:42:37 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Via BRG - Boy Genius Report