FDA authorizes test that lets patients collect own samples at home
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said that it has issued an emergency use authorization for a coronavirus diagnostic test that allows for patients to collect their own samples at home and then mail those samples to a lab for testing.
The authorization was issued to LabCorp, which intends to make its Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home collection kits available to consumers in most states, with a doctor's order, in the coming weeks, the FDA said.
The kit includes a Q-tip-style cotton swab that patients will use to collect their sample, the FDA said.
The FDA said the authorization was for this kit only, and "not a general authorization for at-home collection of patient samples using other collection swabs, media, or tests, or for tests fully conducted at home," the FDA said in a news release.