For those who have symptoms of the Cornoavirus, have come into contact with someone who has a confirmed diagnosis, or are at-risk- a new home test is set to become available soon. The FDA issued emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 test with a “home collection option.” The test, which looks like a Q-tip, collects a sample from the patient’s nose that is then sealed and mailed back to a lab for analysis. Clinics will have discretion on how to implement the home testing, but most have confirmed that they plan to reserve it for patients that are symptomatic, or have a health condition that could lead to serious illness after becoming infected by the Coronavirus. For those with such ailments, exposing themselves to the public to attain an in-clinic or drive-through test could be dangerous because if they didn’t have the virus, they may contract it in finding out if they have it or not.

In related news, the House of Representatives was set to vote on Thursday on a bill that will aim to help small businesses and hospitals that have been financially damaged by the global emergency. The bill, which would be the fourth to pass in response to the pandemic, contains $3 trillion in funds- included in which is more money for testing. World Health officials have come to a consensus that the better the virus’ scope is understood, the more effective efforts to combat the contagion will be. And the best way to understand the viral agent’s spread is through testing and confirming positive cases.

Until Next Time,