Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Rapid COVID-19 Tests Offer New Tools To Slow Pandemic Asher Jones WASHINGTON - As the COVID-19 pandemic marches on, new, rapid tests offer hope for pumping the brakes onthevirus'spread. The United States is falling far short in its testing efforts. More than 4 million tests per day would be needed to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to an analysis by Brown University and [1]NPR. Butmorethansixmonths into the outbreak, daily tests still have not reached 1 million per day, data from the [2]COVID Tracking Project shows. The latest tests can be completed during a healthcare visit, providing a result in just 15 to 30 minutes. Some of the tests could eventually be used at home. [3]Rapid tests solve some of the problems of sample shipping delays, equipment shortages and laboratory backlogs that have plagued U.S. testing. But not all tests are equally accurate, leading to different opinions about the best testing approach. "A test is ideally a rapid test, meaning results come back in an hour," said David Weber, professor of medicine, pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina. "The faster the test comes back, the quicker you can tell someone to isolate themselves or that they don't need isolation, or you can do your contact tracing." Types of testing Testing is crucial to slowing virus spread because it "identifies individuals before they can become contagious so that they can isolate and protect those around them," said Anne Wyllie, epidemiology researcher at Yale University. "Knowing where [the virus] is and being able to stop or slow spread is what's going to help us stamp it out." Two [4]types of tests identify people who are currently infected with COVID-19. The first, a type of test scientists call PCR, looks for the virus's genetic material. The second, known as an antigen test, recognizes viral proteins. Often lauded as the gold standard for testing, PCR is highly accurate. However, most of these testshave tobe shipped to laboratories where they are processed by trained personnel and special equipment. Depending on the test and clinic, wait times for results vary widely from hours to a week or more. Antigen tests are less sensitive and accurate than PCR tests, but they provide results much faster,usually in less than 30 minutes. Rapid developments A benefit of the latest [5]PCR tests is that they can be performed at a doctor's office by staff with minimal training, producing a result in just 15 to 30 minutes. A nose or throat swab sample is loaded into a special cartridge that is processed by a toaster-sized machine. A handful of rapid PCR tests have been granted U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorizations ([6]EUAs), some of which can simultaneously test for COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory viruses. However, rapid tests may not be the most efficient approach for testing many samples at once. "The thing with those [rapid tests] is that it's 30 minutes for one test. Whereas [laboratory PCR testing] can process 92 in three hours," said Wyllie. Rapid PCR tests canalsobe expensive. Sample cartridges may cost $20 or more and machines [7]may cost thousands of dollars. Although less accurate than PCR, antigen tests offer faster and cheaper testing. One of these, Abbott's BinaxNOW [8]test is a simple paper card that works like a pregnancy test, delivering a yes-or-no result in just 15 minutes. The test costs just $5 per sample. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced it purchased 150 million[9] BinaxNOW tests for deployment in schools. References 1. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/10/01/915793729/can-the-u-s-use-its-growing-supply-of-rapid-tests-to-stop-the-virus 2. https://covidtracking.com/data/charts/us-daily-tests 3. https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-testing-is-hampered-by-shortages-of-critical-ingredient-11600772400 4. https://www.fda.gov/media/140161/download 5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165993620302132 6. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics-euas#individual-antigen 7. https://www.finddx.org/pricing/genexpert/ 8. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-first-diagnostic-test-where-results-can-be-read-directly-testing-card 9. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/09/28/trump-administration-deploys-abbott-binaxnow-tests-to-states.html .