Transcript
The number of coronavirus cases in the US has now surpassed 25,000 with more than 300 deaths.
And now the first rapid diagnostic test for coronavirus has been approved by the FDA.
The new test can detect Covid-19 in approximately 45 minutes.
California-based company "Cepheid, which makes the test, says they can start shipping next week.
Clinicians say faster testing will help alleviate some of the pressure on hospital resources.
The test is a significant advancement because some patients have complained it took them days to get results.
However doctors in New York City and Los Angeles, two of the country's largest cities, are changing their testing strategy and the White House coronavirus task force is backing that shift.
Health officials in those cities are now recommending doctors avoid testing patients except in cases where the result would significantly change treatment.
The decision was made because medical supplies like masks and gloves are starting to run out.
The White House coronavirus task force says those much-needed supplies are on the way.
Officials with Health and Human Services just placed an order for hundreds of millions of N-95 masks that will be made available to healthcare workers across the country.
Posted - 3.22.20
