The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised the first-ever rapid test that can diagnose COVID-19 disease in 45 minutes.
California-based company Cepheid is manufacturing the rapidtest kits which would start shipping in the coming week, reports CNN.
“An accurate test delivered close to the patient can betransformative — and help alleviate the pressure that the emergence of the2019-nCoV outbreak has put on healthcare facilities that need to properlyallocate their respiratory isolation resources,” Dr David Persing, chiefmedical and technology officer at Cepheid, was quoted as saying in the report lateSaturday.
More than a quarter of Americans are under a semi-lockdownunder orders from governors of five states.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center,the confirmed cases of new coronavirus in the US reached 26,747 on March 22, with340 deaths. Only China and Italy have higher levels of coronavirus cases thanthe US now.
US President Donald Trump last week claimed chloroquine –one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs — had been approved bythe US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).
“We’re going to be able to make that drug availablealmost immediately. And that’s where the FDA has been so great. They’ve gonethrough the approval process – it’s been approved,” he said during a WhiteHouse briefing.The FDA, however, madeit clear the drug has not been approved for treating those infected with theCOVID-19 coronavirus.