The Cleveland Clinic has developed a coronavirus test that will be able to deliver results in just eight hours.
It will be significantly faster than tests available at other US public health laboratories, which take between two to seven days to confirm results.
Once the medical center, based in Ohio, received approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 2 to begin manufacturing a test, it reportedly took just nine days to produce the kit.
Doctors hope it will significantly speed up the testing process so positive patients can be identified and placed in isolation more quickly to prevent others from getting sick.
The Cleveland Clinic (pictured), in Ohio, has developed a coronavirus test that can deliver results in eight hours
Most other tests performed at labs take between two to seven days to confirm a positive or negative test. Pictured: A medical technologist tests a respiratory panel at Northwell Health Labs in New York where the same test will be used on coronavirus samples, March 11
As of Thursday just 11,079 specimens have been tested at CDC labs and US public health laboratories. Pictured: A woman who tested positive with coronavirus is brought to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in an isolation pod, Friday March 6
Cleveland Clinic has purchased equipment to run the tests, but first they must be validated, spokesperson Angie Kiska told News 5 Cleveland.
Validation is a process that makes sure tests are properly identifying positive samples.
Researchers add reagents – a substance or a compound – to the test to determine if a reaction occurs.
‘We will essentially be performing the same test that’s used by the [CDC] after we complete our validation process,’ Andrea Pacetti, another Clinic spokeswoman, told The Plain Dealer.
Once the process is complete, the Clinic will begin in-house testing later this month rather than sending samples to the CDC or Ohio Department of Health.
The medical center said it is also planning different ways to test patients, and is considering doing drive-thru testing.
Worldwide, more than 125,000 people in more than 100 countries have been infected and more than 4,600 people have died
It comes on the heels of criticism surrounding the delay of officials to conduct widespread testing.
Less than week after the CDC shipped its first batch of kits, several state labs said the diagnostic was returning ‘inconclusive results.’
This forced the federal health agency to remanufacture components of the kit.
Ever since the CDC started to address this issue, delays have continued.
As of Thursday, just 11,079 specimens have been tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 at CDC labs and US public health laboratories.
At a Monday press conference, Vice President Mike Pence said that one million test kits had been distributed and that four million were expected to go about by the end of this week or the next.
However, he did not specify where the kits were sent to, or would be sent to.
Both Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Vice President Pence said the government currently does not have enough kits to keep up with demand.
One-third of staff at Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, the epicenter of one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the US, are reporting symptoms, but only 30 have been tested so far. Pictured: Lori Spencer visits her mom Judie Shape, 81, who has tested positive for coronavirus at Life Care, March 11
This has particularly been evident at Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, the epicenter of one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the US.
One-third of the long-term care facility’s staff, about 65 people, are reporting symptoms, but only 30 have been tested so far.
The University of Washington School of Medicine said it could test all Life Care staff, but the federal government has not given kits for the center’s employees.
Worldwide, more than 125,000 people in more than 100 countries have been infected and more than 4,600 people have died.
In the US, there are more than 1,300 cases in 44 states and 38 people have died in five states.
At this time yesterday, there were 1,056 cases and 31 deaths.