President Trump announced on Monday that his administration will distribute 150 million Abbott coronavirus tests that produce results in just 15 minutes.
“In the old days when we just started this, you remember, we’d go out and we’d have to find these massive laboratories with tremendously expensive equipment. Now, we’re down to something that you’ll see that is really from a different planet,” Trump said.
Trump said that 50 million tests would go to the most vulnerable communities: 18 million to nursing homes, 15 million to assisted living facilities, 10 million for hospice care providers, and nearly 1 million to historically black colleges and universities and colleges in tribal nations. Another 100 million tests will be allocated to states and territories to support efforts to reopen their economies and schools.
The tests are not meant to be used in homes and must be administered by a healthcare provider.
Adm. Brett Giroir, the coronavirus testing coordinator, said that the process of shipping 100 million tests to states is underway, starting with 6.5 million tests this week. Governors can choose how they make tests available to the public and which sectors of the population will get first access, Giroir said, but he added, “We strongly encourage governors to utilize them in settings that are uniquely in need of rapid low tech point of care tests.”
Coronavirus tests were especially difficult to access early in the pandemic and often only made available to people who were showing symptoms and had doctors’ notes. Now, the United States has the capacity to run 3 million tests per day, Giroir said. The administration’s goal for distributing the 15-minute tests is to speed up economic growth, which has slowed in recent months as states decelerate the reopening process.
Schools have also struggled to reopen because many teachers and staff have raised concerns about the safety of returning to classrooms. Administration officials said Monday that access to rapid testing will boost teacher confidence and speed up in-person school reopenings.
“We heard about the enthusiasm of governors from both sides of the aisle about what this test will mean and in helping the process, the testing that will get our kids into school and keep our kids in school,” Vice President Mike Pence said.
Over 101 million coronavirus tests have been conducted since January, roughly 30% of the U.S. population, according to the COVID Tracking Project. More than 7.1 million COVID-19 infections and nearly 205,000 deaths have been confirmed.
