
Abbott Launches 5-Minute Covid-19 Test for Use Almost Anywhere - rafaelc
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-27/abbott-launches-5-minute-covid-19-test-for-use-almost-anywhere
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dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22708535](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22708535)

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mmhsieh
Do we have any old Theranos machines we can repurpose?

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hprotagonist
great. give me precision, recall, and accuracy please.

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enraged_camel
Yep, I'm wondering the same thing.

With the sheer number of pharmaceutical companies jumping on this opportunity
and desperately trying to be the first to market with a test, treatment or a
vaccine, we the public absolutely need to know the efficacy of whatever is
proposed. Especially in light of the fact that the FDA is currently under
enormous deregulatory pressure.

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tropo
The equipment is excellent for the other diseases it can test for. I think the
numbers I saw earlier today were 95% sure for negative and well over 99% sure
for positive, but I can't find that source back anymore. Numbers for this
specific virus would be poorly understood, but ought to be similar to the
numbers for other viruses.

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gz5
non-paywall version:

[https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/fda-gives-the-green-
li...](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/fda-gives-the-green-light-to-
portable-covid-19-testing-kit/2263068/)

doesn't list absolute accuracy, but indicates the genome RNA can be identified
in as short as 5 minutes, and 13 minutes can be "definitive".

it is built on an existing platform:

"The technology builds on Illinois-based Abbott’s ID Now platform, the most
common point-of-care test currently available in the U.S., with more than
18,000 units spread across the country. It is widely used to detect influenza,
strep throat and respiratory syncytial virus, a common bug that causes cold-
like symptoms."

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9nGQluzmnq3M
13 minutes for a "definitive" _negative_. So it's fast to detect high viral
loads, but takes longer for smaller quantities.

