The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit, which can be administered at home and get immediate results.
The FDA’s decision comes as the United States continues to grapple with the increasing number of people infected by COVID-19. As of Wednesday, the country has more than 11.4 million tested positive for the virus and 248,400 died.
Since the end of September, the hospitalization rates for COVID-19 have been increasing steadily, according to the Centers for Disease for Control and Prevention (CDC).
The rising rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the U.S. are alarming thus it is imperative that people have immediate access to testing.
According to the FDA, the Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is a molecular (real-time loop-mediated amplification reaction) single-use test, It is intended to detect the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.
Individuals age 14 and older need to request a prescription from their doctors to use the Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit to find out if they are infected with the virus. They need self-collected nasal swab samples to administer the diagnostic test at home and will get the result within approximately 30 minutes.
