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Testing backlogs, reagent shortages, and limited access have contributed to inadequate testing for COVID-19 in the US and elsewhere. But in recent months, new types of assay that promise to offer quicker, cheaper, and more user-friendly features have begun to roll out. Saliva tests, for one, are gaining traction as screening tools for universities and professional basketball teams. Antigen testing is another approach that, if given regulators’ blessings, might give consumers the ability to take their own tests at home and get results on the spot.
Several diagnostics firms are currently working to gain regulatory approval and bring products like this to market in huge numbers.
“This is like a wartime effort, there are many fronts that we’re trying to fight this disease,” says Stephen Tang, president and CEO of OraSure, which is working on a test that members of the public could take themselves. ...
