The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a quick coronavirus test that people can buy in a drug store and use at home. The test, which costs $30 and includes a swab to allow users to collect a sample from their nose, provides results within 15 minutes.
Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and a faculty member in the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, has been a vocal advocate for making rapid at-home tests widely available, though he expressed concerns about the new test due to several factors, including its cost.
“It will be a game-changer, I think, to help people quickly identify if their symptoms are due to COVID” Mina said. “But from the perspective of truly stopping or massively slowing this pandemic, this test isn’t designed for that.”
Read the NPR article: FDA Authorizes 1st Home Coronavirus Test That Doesn’t Require A Prescription