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C.D.C. Weighs Advising Everyone to Wear a Mask

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Frightened Doctors Face Off With Hospitals Over Rules on Protective Gear

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New story in Health from Time: Your Doctor’s Appointments Have Been Canceled. Are At-Home Tests a Good Solution?

As the COVID-19 outbreak worsens in the U.S. , at-home test kits for the virus have been a source of both hope and controversy. Their appeal is clear: sick individuals could get a diagnosis from the comfort of home, without infecting others. But their downsides are real: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cracked down on unauthorized at-home COVID-19 tests, updating its emergency use authorization guidelines to exclude at-home test kits and warning Americans that no such tests have received agency authorization. That means startups previously offering these products—such as Everlywell , Nurx and Carbon Health— must now stop . All three confirmed to TIME that they are not currently offering at-home COVID-19 testing, though all stand by the need for it. If they can convince the FDA, these kits could help shape public perception of at-home medical testing for years to come. COVID-19 has already proven its ability to alter the way American physicians practice,

Frightened Doctors Face Off With Hospitals Over Rules on Protective Gear

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New story in Health from Time: New Coronavirus Test Provides Results In As Few As Five Minutes, According to Manufacturer

On March 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use to Abbott Laboratories for its rapid COVID-19 test designed for doctor’s offices, urgent care centers and smaller hospitals without complex testing labs. According to the Illinois-based company, the test can give positive results in as little as five minutes, and negative results in about 13 minutes. The test runs on Abbot’s ID NOW device , which is about the size of the toaster, and is currently used by many sites to quickly test for flu, strep and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) while patients wait. For COVID-19, health providers would have to order an additional $40 cartridge, about the size of a replacement ink cartridge for printers, specifically developed to pick up genetic signatures of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most insurers have pledged to cover the cost of the test, which is about the same price as the ID NOW test for flu, without additional costs to patients who qualify. The Abbot test—like

Restrictions Are Slowing Coronavirus Infections, New Data Suggest

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Hive Mind of Makers Rises to Meet Pandemic

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