FDA Approves At Home COVID-19 Test

Soon a more efficient wat to get tested for COVID-19 will be available for public use.

This week the FDA approved a rapid COVID-19 test that can be done entirely at home, giving results within minutes on your phone.

The home COVID-19 test doesn’t require a prescription, and it can be bought over the counter at a local drug store within the next couple months sometime in early 2021. The Pennsylvania based company Ellume said the kit is simple to use, all you do is swab your nose, run the test that works similar to a pregnancy test kit, and within twenty minutes the results will be available via Ellume’s phone app.

The swab is also made to be adjustable so children can be tested without extra discomfort.

Although many say there is a light at the end of the tunnel now with the vaccine being distributed and testing being made easier than ever, Dr. Lance Frye with the Oklahoma Health Department said now is not the time to let your guard down.

“We need everyone to continue to wear masks, social distance, and wash hands to help slow the spread of covid-19,” Frye says.

The FDA said these rapid tests aren’t always as accurate as the lab run tests, so false positives and negatives are possible, but this could ease the burden of long lines at testing sites.