Abbott Launches 5-minute COVID-19 Test

Abbott on Friday announced it received approval for a test that is capable of delivering positive results of the coronavirus in as little as five minutes, and it will begin making those tests available to health care providers next week.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the point-of-care test on Friday, the company said in a statement. The test can detect negative results in 13 minutes. The company said it plans to ramp up manufacturing so it can deliver 50,000 tests per day.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will be fought on multiple fronts, and a portable molecular test that offers results in minutes adds to the broad range of diagnostic solutions needed to combat this virus,” Abbott Chief Operating Officer Robert Ford said in a statement.

This is the second Abbott test for the coronavirus to be launched. Between the two, the company expects to produce about 5 million tests per month, the company said in a statement. The Lake Bluff, Illinois, company makes diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and medicines.

A challenge might be that clinicians, due to the personal protective equipment shortage, might not feel safe administering these tests to patients, especially those with respiratory symptoms.

Around the world, there are more than 591,802 cases of the coronavirus with at least 26,996 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., there are at least 101,657 cases of the coronavirus with at least 1,581 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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