FDA Authorises Use of New 5-Minute Coronavirus Diagnostics Amid Ongoing Pandemic

A medical equipment and health care company, Abbott, claims that its new method will be capable of delivering as many as 50,000 tests per day and some 5 million tests per month.

Abbott announced on Friday that it had received authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new test that allegedly takes “as little as five minutes” to detect the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The company claimed in a Friday press release that its new test is “the fastest available molecular point-of-care test” taking only five minutes to deliver a positive result and 13 minutes to deliver a negative result.

“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 of 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”.

According to the company's statement, the new method will be capable of delivering some 50,000 tests per day and around 5 million tests per month.

The company said it planned to start deploying its point-of-care ID NOW testing platforms to coronavirus hotspots in the country by next week.

The news comes as the United States has become the world’s most-affected country in the pandemic, with over 104,000 cases along with at least 1,500 deaths.