New Coronavirus Test – Done in 13 Minutes

Today begins drive-through coronavirus testing for those with a primary care physician’s order, with locations at CCRI, RIC and URI. The test is the original nasopharyngeal test which is a specialty swab that goes to the deep end of the nose, taking several days to issue results. It also requires full PPE – personal protective equipment be worn by the technician and changed fully after each use.

At the President’s press conference last night, more details were released about the faster, easier to administer coronavirus test by Abbott. Dr. Deborah Birx who serves as the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator said, “we have lots of test kits all around the United States – and they are just sitting there, not being used, because people have learned the system we’ve had up until now and are resistant to change”.

At the Governor’s press conference, she said that the test being given at sites set up today are the former, original test, and noted that people should expect to wait a few days for results.

RINewsToday requested more information about this and if Rhode Island does have the tests in the state, and when they will be used.

Abbott announcement

Abbott announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for the detection of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), delivering positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes. The test will run on the company’s ID NOW^™ platform, providing rapid results in a wide range of healthcare settings such as physicians’ offices, urgent care clinics and hospital emergency departments.

The ID NOW platform is small, lightweight (6.6 pounds) and portable (the size of a small toaster), and uses molecular technology, which is valued by clinicians and the scientific community for its high degree of accuracy. ID NOW is already the most widely available molecular point-of-care testing platform in the U.S. today. 

“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,” said Robert B. Ford, president and chief operating officer, Abbott. “With rapid testing on ID NOW, healthcare providers can perform molecular point-of-care testing outside the traditional four walls of a hospital in outbreak hotspots.”

Abbott will be making ID NOW COVID-19 tests available next week to healthcare providers in urgent care settings in the U.S., where the majority of ID NOW instruments are in use today. The company is working with the Administration to deploy tests to areas where they can have the greatest impact. 

The arrival of the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test comes a week after the company launched its Abbott m2000^™ RealTime SARS-CoV-2 EUA test, which runs on the m2000^™ RealTime System located in hospital and reference labs around the world. Between the two platforms, Abbott expects to produce about 5 million tests per month.

About the ID NOW^™ Molecular Platform
As the world leader in point-of-care diagnostics, Abbott is adding its expertise and scale to help fight the COVID-19 global pandemic. First introduced in 2014, ID Now is the leading molecular point-of-care platform for Influenza A & B, Strep A and RSV testing in the U.S.

ID NOW is a rapid, instrument-based, isothermal system for the qualitative detection of infectious diseases. Its unique isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology provides molecular results in just minutes, allowing clinicians to make evidence-based clinical decisions during a patient visit.

About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 107,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

More information at: www.abbott.com