tests and an easing of federal rules as they prepare for a major production blitz that could bring at-home saliva test kits to millions of Americans in the coming months.
Until last week, at-home testing had been prohibited by regulators. But in a notable breakthrough, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now cleared the way for a Rutgers University lab and its partners to begin distributing at-home saliva tests to patients by way of mail, not unlike commonly used genealogy DNA tests.
The question now is whether the fledgling industry surrounding at-home collection can mobilize to meet the demands of a nationwide crisis. The spit-tubes and labels are sent to consumers in a small, re-sealable box, a packet that was subjected to its own approval process to be sure samples could be safely shipped to the lab without breaking or being contaminated. But the ingredient that represented a breakthrough for Spectrum was the preservative inside the tube that enables the sample to be processed.
No one cares. There's no demand.
Great. So everyone in California will test themselves every day and still be required to stay sheltered at home?
Should be free to every American.
Because there are 300 million residents in the US that have been traumatized into panic by the media and they'll want those tests. They'll probably be as easy to purchase as those home DNA kits.
Dr Birx gave a few requirements for US Tests, that were not met by other countries. 1) The Test must have specificity, that is, be able to tell the difference between a Cold, the Flu and Covid19. 2) Have very low False Positive/Negative results. 3) Be easy to administer.