FDA Approves COVID-19 At Home Testing

CDC’s laboratory test kit for the novel coronavirus — Photo: CDC

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved at home testing for COVID-19.

A statement by the FDA Tuesday said that the agency reissued an Emergency Use Authorization for LabCorp to COVID-19 RT-PCR Test to permit testing of samples that were self-collected by patients at home using LabCorp’s Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home collection kit.

“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 FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.

The LabCorp home self-collection kit includes a specific Q-tip-style cotton swab for patients to use to collect their sample.

Due to concerns with sterility and cross-reactivity due to inherent genetic material in cotton swabs, officials say other cotton swabs should not be used with the test.