John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott Diagnostics said that they plan to provide 50,000 tests a day beginning from April 1.
Washington| Abbott healthcare launched a Covid-19 test kit that can give results in time as little as 5 minutes and is so small and portable that it can be used in any health system setup.
John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott Diagnostics said that they plan to provide 50,000 tests a day beginning from April 1. The molecular test traces fragments of the coronavirus genome that can be detected in just 5 minutes when it’s present at high levels.
To rule out an infection, a thorough search can take up to 13 minutes, informed Frels.
The U.S. has been struggling to provide enough test kits to detect coronavirus, even though the outbreak is set to threaten and overwhelm the hospitals in New York, California, Washington, and other regions. The U.S. had earlier restricted testing to only high-risk patients. After having problems with a test designed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, now the regulators have run to the world’s leading commercial-testing companies.
Frels further said, “This is really going to provide a tremendous opportunity for front-line caregivers, those having to diagnose a lot of infections, to close the gap with our testing. A clinic will be able to turn that result around quickly, while the patient is waiting.”
Illinois-based Abbott’s ID Now platform has the most common point-of-care test currently available in the U.S. It has over 18,000 units spread across the country. It is majorly used to detect influenza, strep throat, and respiratory syncytial virus.
The test involves taking a swab from the nose or throat of the patient, which is later mixed with a chemical solution that breaks open the virus and releases its RNA. The mixture is then inserted into an ID Now system, that has the technology to identify and amplify select sequences of the coronavirus genome.
The equipment can be set-up almost anywhere. The company is working with its consumers and the U.S. administration so that the first cartridges are provided where they are needed the most.
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