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Coping with COVID: Rapid at-home COVID-19 test approved by FDA, no prescription required

An over-the-counter COVID-19 test may soon be on store shelves after being issued emergency use authorization from the U.S Food and Drug Administration. Consumers can buy the at-home test with no prescription and with the assistance of a phone, can receive results within 20 minutes.

A U.S Food and Drug Administration-approved rapid COVID-19 home test can send results back within 20 minutes.

Australia-based company Ellume developed the test, which may hit store shelves soon.

Consumers will be able to buy the take-home test over the counter, no prescription required.

For the cost of about $30, the test comes with a “digital analyzer” to put the sample in and it will connect to your phone via Bluetooth. Results come back in under 30 minutes.

It comes with a nasal swab, shorter than the ones health care professionals test with. Users self-swab, but they don’t send those off to a lab. Instead, the test utilizes an app.

The at-home tests will be a first during the pandemic, with technology that would analyze your results at home and send results to your phone.

Ellume claims the test is 96 percent effective on symptomatic people and 91 percent effective on those without symptoms. The app also sends results directly to local health authorities.

The FDA noted any rapid, or PCR test, is likely not as effective as one you would send off to a lab. Ellume expects it can manufacture three million tests in January.