Abbot
(Photo: Abbott Labs)

The US Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization to Abbott Labs' toaster-sized coronavirus test on Friday, dubbing it 'a game-changer' amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

The point-of-care test, which yields accurate and reliable results within 5 minutes, is expected to be delivered to urgent care clinics in the coming week.

According to the Illinois-based medical device maker's website, the test can deliver results within positive results within the first five minutes. Negative tests take up to 13 minutes to process.

The company revealed it is ready to deploy more than 150,000 testing equipment on their page on March 18. The coronavirus test named m2000 RealTime system is reportedly being used in numerous hospitals and medical center labs in 18 different states including Illinois and New York.

The medical manufacturing company said they scaled up production in hopes of having over a million tests done by the end of March.

The m2000 system can process hundreds of tests in a day. Using a molecular testing technology, the testing system identifies the presence of the virus by targeting small amounts of it in the sample until there's enough for detection.

The machine can only be used to detect Influenza A&B, Strep A, and respiratory syncytial virus.


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Other companies have also received authorization from the FDA, allowing the unapproved equipment to be used during public health emergencies.

Cepheid, a California-based company known for its numerous testing equipment, has also received authorization last week. Cepheid's testing equipment yields results within 45 minutes.

Another California-based company named Mesa Biotech announced it also received authorization for a palm-sized test that can give accurate results within half an hour.

The United States is currently struggling as the continuous rise of COVID-19 cases have depleted the medical supplies needed to treat coronavirus patients.

The US President Donald Trump recently extended the lockdown measure in the country after cases reached an all-time high of over 140,000. The United States now has the most number of cases in the world with Italy following closely after at 97,000 cases.

Health officials also reported 237 new deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of fatalities nationwide to 2,489.

Trump announced the extension despite strong demand from conservative backers who urged the president to ease lockdown protocols. The decision came after medical experts presented him with data that predicts 2.2 million Americans could die if he lifts the stay-at-home policy in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, New York has reported more than 52,000 cases since local health authorities discovered the first COVID-19 victim in the state almost a month ago.

Health experts warn the public to observe proper hygiene measures as they believe the outbreak in the state of New York is just the beginning of the long battle ahead.

"The disease does not care if you're in a big city, small city," Jonathan Fielding, a professor in residence at the University of California said. "Everbody is at risk."