FDA Signals Green Light to the First at Home Rapid COVID-19 Test

The Food and Drug Administration released an emergency authorization to the first rapid COVID-19 test.

(Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Coronavirus Testing Continues In Florida PEMBROKE PARK, FLORIDA - JULY 22: Health care workers use a nasal swab to test a person for COVID-19 at a pop up testing site at the Koinonia Worship Center and Village on July 22, 2020 in Pembroke Park, Florida. The tests where being donated by the emergency management firm CDR Maguire and GENETWORx Lab as the state of Florida battles against a spike in coronavirus cases.

On Tuesday, the FDA signaled the green light to the first rapid coronavirus test that could run at home from start to finish, paving a potential way for widespread testing outside health care facilities. According to the New York Times, the test developed by Lucia Health, a California-based company, required a prescription from healthcare professionals. People below the age of 14 are not allowed to perform the test on themselves. However, the test can return results in almost half an hour with a relatively simple nasal swab. 

Besides, the at-home rapid test is projected by the company to cost $50 or less, as per the product's website. Clinicians are also allowed to run the rapid test on their patients, including children age 14 and below. This at-home COVID-19 rapid test could deliver answers during a single visit to a care center or pharmacy, instead of going a tough-to-collect sample through a laboratory. 

The FDA clarified that other tests for at-home collection of samples will be shipped to a laboratory for processing. Lucia's rapid test is the first to remove the need for an intermediary, as per NY Times. 

"Today's authorization for a complete at-home COVID-19 test is a critical step toward F.D.A.'s nationwide response to the pandemic. Now, more Americans who might have COVID-19 will be able to take immediate action, based on their results, to protect themselves as well as those around them," Jeff Shuren, director of the F.D.A.'s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

Individuals who will test positive for COVID-19 are expected to isolate themselves from others for ten days from the day their symptoms began or the day they knew they tested positive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Aside from Lucia's, several companies also provide at-home tests, which enable people to take multiple tests per week as needed from the comfort of their homes. According to ABC News, the downside of this is getting tested at home will cost a person. 

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Costco, the latest to come out with at-home testing kits, charges members $130 for a saliva test. Costco said the equipment can only be purchased online and is available to store members in most states. 

Testing experts said PCR-based tests like Costco's are the most accurate despite the testing kit's steep price. Once the laboratory gets the sample, it would take 12072 hours to get the result, as per Costco and Azova Health.

Dr. Monica Gandhi, professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, told "Good Morning America" that people who have money to afford the rapid test will absolutely test before they meet their older relatives or before they get on a plane. 

Other companies like Walmart are offering at home nasal swab tests, which is similar to what people will find in the doctor's office, and could deliver them to clients through drones as Walmart is in partnership with Quest Labs. 

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