At-home tests for coronavirus are here
At-home tests for coronavirus are here
ith delays in testing hampering the country’s ability to accurately track the new coronavirus and shelter-in-place orders keeping many Americans at home, startups are swooping in with a seemingly ideal solution: at-home tests.
Over the next week, at least four startups are launching the first at-home tests for Covid-19. The companies, whose tests have been mostly greenlit — but not approved in the conventional sense — by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under new guidelines instituted for the coronavirus crisis, aim for their diagnostics to offer some certainty to people who have up until now been unable to get tested as a result of the shortage of test kits. Most of the companies have put their other efforts on hold to focus on coronavirus.
Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) tests are conducted in commercial, private and academic labs, as well as state and county health labs. UC Davis Health has greatly expanded our on-site testing capabilities, having developed and validated our own accurate COVID-19 test. We are doing this in full collaboration with Sacramento County Public Health and other public health agencies in order to take the pressure off other testing labs. Since we began testing in March, we have performed more than 10,000 molecular tests.
Testing for COVID-19 involves inserting a 6-inch long swab (like a long Q-tip) into the cavity between the nose and mouth (nasopharyngeal swab) for 15 seconds and rotating it several times.
The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. Learn how COVID-19 spreads and practice these actions to help prevent the spread of this illness.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, everyone should:
- Clean your hands often, either with soap and water for 20 seconds or a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Put distance between yourself and other people (at least 6 feet).
- Cover your mouth and nose with a mask when around others.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces daily.
- CDC recommends that people wear masks in public settings and when around people outside of their household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
- Masks may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.
Wear a mask.Save lives.
Wear a face cover
Wash your hands
Keep a safe distance
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