The Orange County Health Agency has started offering free home test kits to all CO residents, making the convenient option broader.
One of the kits is a saliva-based test from Ambry Genetics, which was made available for the first time last month only in Santa Ana and Anaheim.
The second is a nasal smear test from Picture Genetics.
Other types of home tests are also coming to the market, such as the BioSpyder molecular test, the most proactive approach for those who are asymptomatic. This “surveillance test” allows a group of people to know if at least one test is positive.
After ordering a test on the BioSpyder website, a box will arrive with four tubes or more, each intended for one person.
After gargling with the provided rinse, you spit it back into the tube and send the box back. Results can be expected in 24-48 hours.
Surveillance testing is not regulated by the FDA as it focuses on a group result, not individual tests.
BioSpyder CEO Joel McComb says that this option can work with companies that want to target certain shifts or departments.
“If you receive someone asymptomatic, it can have devastating effects on others who will develop the symptoms,” said McComb.
McComb also warned that these surveillance tests are not a way to escape security precautions.
“This does not exempt you from state and federal guidelines,” he said.
There is also a home test created by Abbott Laboratories that gives results in just 15 minutes. This test comes with a virtual guide.
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