Coronavirus USA Update: Detroit Will Receive Abbott’s Rapid COVID-19 Test Kits First, Mayor Says

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency use to Abbott for developing its fast coronavirus test kit. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said, on Wednesday, that the city of Detroit will be the first to use the five-minute COVID-19 test kits.

According to a report by Tech Crunch, Duggan said on Wolf Blitzer’s show on CNN that the city of Detroit received the test kits manufactured by Abbott on April 1. He added that the COVID-19 test kits will be deployed in the next 24 hours.

Duggan mentioned that these coronavirus test kits would be made available to first responders. According to the mayor, the first responders will be tested who are placed in self-isolation but yet to test for the coronavirus.

On March 27, the company released a statement announcing that it is developing the COVID-19 test kits that can deliver positive results in “as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.” Abbott also mentioned in the statement that it is increasing production to deliver 50,000 kits.

“We're ramping up production to deliver 50,000 ID NOW COVID-19 tests per day, beginning next week, to the U.S. healthcare system,” Abbott said.

Abbott tweeted in response to a tweet asking about COVID-19 test kits rolling out date.

“Hi, we know having access to diagnostic tests is critical to helping curb the coronavirus pandemic. We will be making ID NOW COVID-19 tests available this week to healthcare providers in urgent care settings in the U.S., where the majority of ID NOW instruments are in use today.”

Meanwhile, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, 47,256 people have died because of the coronavirus pandemic across the world. In the U.S., the coronavirus death toll has crossed 5000 as of 1 a.m. Eastern Time (April 2). Meanwhile, the confirmed COVID-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate in the country (216,721).