The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency approval for a new high-speed test for COVID-19 or the new coronavirus.
Roche Holding AG, a diagnostics company, has come up with a test that can look for coronavirus faster than what is already available, Bloomberg reported.
The tests can be run on the company's systems in the U.S. One, the 8800 version, can test 4,128 patients a day. Another device, the 6800 version, can test up to 1,440 patients daily, Bloomberg reported.
This is the third emergency authorization from the FDA for a coronavirus test, The Wall Street Journal reported.
As of two weeks ago, only the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were allowed to test for the virus, but the tests were inaccurate. The CDC has corrected the problems, the newspaper reported.
Some academic hospitals in the U.S. have also been given the green light to use tests for COVID-19 without getting emergency authorization. They do have to do steps to make sure the tests are valid and then get FDA authorization, The Wall Street Journal reported.
More than 13,000 tests have been conducted by the CDC and other labs in the U.S. since mid-January, according to government officials.
