The U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA) has now authorized the first of its kind COVID-19 self testing at home kit which is meant to be used by anyone in the comfort of their homes while getting the results within an hour.
The announcement was made about for the authorization of the emergency usage of Lucira COVID-19 all-in-one Test Kit on Tuesday night.
With the test kit, prescription is the first step to go about it and then the system of testing and getting results work under 1 hour according to the FDA. Anyone who have the test kit can swab themselves and then swirl it in a vial which is then placed on a test unit.
The kit has being authorized for home usage but not for people under the age of 14. The test kit can also be used in other places away from home such as health centers and hospitals for patients of any age (the home usage is where there is age limit).
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The FDA commissioner Stephen M. Hahn said in a statement that the kit is an important advancement which is meant to further help in preventing the further spread of the deadly Coronavirus which has caused the loss of tens of thousands of lives in the United States alone.
The company behind the test kit Lucira Health did not respond immediately to comments when asked about the tests will become available to the general public as well as other important details about the kit.
But the body in charge of the COVID-19 test in the US has encouraged rapid testing which have further granted the emergency use authorization by the FDA which makes it the first of its kind home testing kit.
Some tests have also been authorized for samples to be collected at home, but those must then be sent away for testing.
And as of now, the number of cases in the United States continues to rise prompting the speculation that there could be need for another round two lock down measure to keep things in check even though some states have implemented some curfew and other measures to keep things under control.
Health experts have also warned that there could be a huge spike in the number of cases as the country head towards the winter season which will further force people indoors.
As of Tuesday night, there were about 11.4 million cases in the United States with over 249,000 deaths in the country making the U.S. the epicenter of the coronavirus in North America.
The effects of the pandemic has wrecked havoc on the economy and people’s livelihood in the country with millions filing for unemployment as the country spiraled quickly into recession.
The U.S. President, Donald Trump argued the number of cases was because of the number of tests being carried out as he stated that the fact that the U.S. did more test is why there were more reported cases in the country even though he himself and some of his close associates and the First Lady eventually caught the disease.
Do not forget that there had been debates about the accuracy of the results gotten from these type of tests. But the increase in the number of cases in the country is probably why the FDA had no option but to let something like this happen.
