Pennsylvania company eyes rapid self-test for COVID-19
A Pennsylvania company is developing a rapid COVID-19 self-test that could lead to safer schools and lifting restrictions on bars and restaurants, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday.
If approved for use by the end of the year, the OraSure test would help the state find cases of the virus quicker and improve contact tracing efforts designed to slow the spread of the disease, state Health Secretary Rachel Levine said.
“This is good news,” Wolf said during a briefing in Harrisburg. “This is going to be a big help.”
Stephen S. Tang, president and chief executive officer for the Northampton-based OraSure, said the test is undergoing clinical trials and will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use authorization.
He said the test should be available for purchase online and at pharmacies.
“It’s essentially a lab on a swab,” Tang said.
Pennsylvania has been hampered by a slow turnaround on some tests on the market and its ability to only test about 4% of its population a month.
Levine said testing is key to stopping the spread of the virus.
She said Pennsylvanians are also stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus when they wear masks in public, avoid large crowds and frequently wash their hands.
The virus has killed 7,352 people in the state since March after 35 new deaths were reported Tuesday. Allegheny and Fayette counties each added one new death, taking their death tolls from the virus to 260 and six, respectively.
Fayette added 61 new cases of the virus taking its total to 562 Tuesday, a day when the state typically receives a data dump due to slow reporting.
In Washington County, where 13 people have died from the virus, seven new cases were reported to its total that rose to 862. Greene County added one new case to its total of 117.
Presbyterian SeniorCare Network announced the death Monday of a skilled nursing resident at its Washington campus. It was first death in the network’s 10-county footprint attributable to COVID-19. The victim was not identified in a news release.