JUST IN: Biden Admin Announces New Over the Counter Covid Test Kit with 95% Accuracy Available this Month
A new over-the-counter home Covid test that features 95% accuracy and a less invasive nasal swab will be available for consumers this month.
Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt announced this very encouraging news during a Monday press conference featuring members of the Biden Amdministration’s iteration of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Slavitt noted that the Department of Defense and HHS jointly announced today the country’s first over the counter at home Covid test. The test is made by a company called Ellum and is an over-the-counter self-performed test kit that can detect covid with roughly 95% accuracy, within 15 minutes.
“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 “the test is performed in what is called a mid-turbinate nasal swab,” which it means it is less invasive swab seen in the news. “After you take the swab, you put the sample into a digital analyzer, which will send a result to your smartphone in about 15 minutes.”
Slavitt explained that Ellume is ramping up manufacturing and will ship 100,000 test kits per month to the U.S. From February through July, noting “that is good but it is obviously not where we will need to be.” He then followed that $230 million has been awarded to Ellume in order to scale the manufacturing base and capacity of this easy to use test. “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.”
From Ellume’s website:
The test includes a sterile Nasal Swab, a Dropper, Processing Fluid, and a Bluetooth® connected Analyzer for use with an App on the user’s smartphone.
Utilizing the dedicated App, the user follows step-by-step instructions to perform the test including a self-collected mid-turbinate swab. The sample is analyzed and results are automatically transmitted to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth®. Results can be shared with healthcare professionals to enable optimal therapy.
Through a secure cloud connection, the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test provides real time reporting of test results and critical data to health authorities, employers and educators, for efficient COVID-19 mapping.
Watch above via CNN.
