• The US FDA on Saturday approved a new rapid coronavirus test by California-based Cepheid.
• The test can detect the novel coronavirus within 45 minutes, and can be processed by providers without training on one of the company’s 5,000 machines across the country.
• On March 13, the FDA also gave emergency clearance for a test by Roche, which can diagnose COVID-19 in about three hours. Previously, patients have had to wait days for a diagnosis.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a coronavirus test that can deliver a diagnosis in 45 minutes.

The test, made by California-based Cepheid, got emergency clearance on Saturday, eight days after the agency gave fast-track approval for a test by Roche, which can diagnose the novel coronavirus within three hours. Medical-equipment giant Thermo Fisher also has a test on the market.

The approval is part of a concerted effort to make up for lost time after delays, a flawed test, and then a global shortage of the essential chemicals needed to make a new test meant the US was testing its citizens at a far slower …continued .
[Source: Business Insider]