At-home Coronavirus test kit will be available in the U.S. starting March 23
The United States-based digital health company Everlywell has announced that an at-home test kit for the Coronavirus Disease or COVID-19 will be available to consumers beginning Monday, March 23.
Source: Cision PR Newswire
This news cannot come at a more opportune time since according to the March 19 report of the World Health Organization, there are already 7,807 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., and their death toll has risen to 100.
The company believes that this is one way to address the shortage or inaccessibility of COVID-19 test kits in their country and globally as well.
"The extreme shortage of tests for COVID-19 puts millions of Americans at risk. Everlywell is committed to helping stop the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. by making this test widely available,” said Julia Cheek, founder and CEO of Everlywell.
The company will initially be offering 30,000 COVID-19 test collection kits. They will be sent to customers at home and their collected sample will be safely shipped to a CLIA-certified laboratory partner, which has overnight delivery service.
Secure digital results will be available online within 48 hours of receipt of their sample. Plus, there will be free telehealth consults for those who will test positive for COVID-19.
To access Everlywell's COVID-19 test, consumers need to go to their website and complete a screening questionnaire. The test will be sold for $135 at no profit to Everlywell.
The home testing company has also reportedly reached out to U.S. government officials and public health departments to see if the test can be made available for free. No word yet on whether the U.S. government has agreed to this or not.