The US drug regulator has given emergency-use authorization to a testing kit for Covid-19 that allows for the first time self-collection of sample by users at home, which can then be mailed for analysis.
Called Pixel by LabCorp, these kits are expected to cost $119 a piece and will be first made available only to healthcare workers and first responders who are at a greater risk of infection or have been infected.
The company has said it plans to make the kits more general available to consumers in a few weeks.
The kit can be bought online after going through a short health screening survey to determine the buyer’s risk of contracting the disease. The kit comes by mail with easy-to-use instructions — the sample will be a nasal swab.
The buyer is required to drop off the sample in pre-addressed insulated package at a FedEx collection drop-off box before the last pick-up scheduled for the day.
The test result will be conveyed by email, the company has said.
{{/usCountry}}The test result will be conveyed by email, the company has said.
{{/usCountry}}“Throughout this pandemic we have been facilitating test development to ensure patients access to accurate diagnostics, which includes supporting the development of reliable and accurate at-home sample collection options,” said Stephen M. Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, in a statement.