Rapid COVID-19 Testing Rolled Out At Newton-Wellesley Hospital
NEWTON (CBS) -- Newton-Wellesley Hospital has a new tool to combat the Coronavirus: a rapid COVID-19 test which can reveal a positive result in five minutes or a negative one in 13 minutes.
The test, called ID Now, is produced by Abbott Laboratories and is similar to tests used for the flu and strep throat.
Newton Wellesley has four ID Now instruments that can test throat or nasal swabs taken from potential COVID-19 patients.
"This instrument really fills a gap where a need has existed since this pandemic," Dr. Michael Misialek, the hospital's Associate Chair of Pathology said. "Where we're using it is in patients who need a stat result within minutes to guide some sort of treatment decision."
Abbott expects to ramp up production to deliver 50,000 ID Now tests a day and as many as 5 million tests a month.
