North Korea’s admission that it is battling an “explosive” COVID-19 outbreak raised concerns that the virus could devastate a country with an under-resourced health system, limited testing capabilities, and no vaccine program.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 2 warned people against the use of unauthorized versions of certain COVID-19 rapid antigen tests currently being marketed in the United States.
The U.S. health regulator granted emergency use authorization for Abbott Laboratories’ molecular test to detect and distinguish the coronavirus and two types of flu viruses with a single test.
A molecular test from Becton Dickinson that detects viruses that cause Covid-19 as well as influenza and produces result in 2-3 hours was given emergency use authorization by the U.S. health regulator.
A U.S. official told a World Health Organization meeting that Washington would participate in a program to boost Covid-19 testing, diagnostics and vaccines as the country joins global efforts to respond to the pandemic.
Quest Diagnostics saw a higher recovery in the company’s testing volumes in the United States where state and local governments were slowly lifting restrictions after the coronavirus lockdowns.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. expanded the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing a total antibodies test in collaboration with WuXi Diagnostics and Mayo Clinic.
