Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA Has Somewhat Reined In At-Home-Testing Market, But Doubts About Accuracy Still Linger
The Wall Street Journal: At-Home Covid-19 Testing Arrives, With Accuracy And Access Questions
Companies are starting to roll out tests that can diagnose coronavirus infections at home, offering people who are seeking to return to work a potentially safer, more accessible option to check their health. Yet experts worry about the accuracy of the results generated by the at-home tests, costs that insurers often don’t cover and other factors that could limit use. At-home tests are the next wave of coronavirus diagnostics, following tests given by doctors at offices and hospitals. Some of the newest ones use a person’s saliva to detect an infection. (Scott, 6/2)
Reuters: In-Home Antibody Test Shows Promise; Recovering Surgery Patients At Risk From Coronavirus
The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. In-home COVID-19 antibody test shows high accuracy. A small study of a COVID-19 antibody test that can be done at home showed a high degree of accuracy, researchers reported. (Lapid, 6/1)
NPR: Trump Plan For Drive-Up COVID-19 Tests At Stores Yields Few Results
Twice now, on March 13 and again on April 27, President Trump gathered some of the country's top corporate executives — from test producers to lab processors to major retailers — to tout his plan to make COVID-19 testing widely available. His vision: Blanket the country in drive-through testing sites. The president, speaking from the White House Rose Garden, promised that "stores in virtually every location" would be rolling out testing, including some of the "greatest retailers anywhere in the world" that "cover this country in large part," such as CVS, Target, Walgreens and Walmart. (Pfeiffer and Mak, 6/1)
And in other news —
NPR: Adm. Brett Giroir Will Leave Role Overseeing Coronavirus Testing This Month
The Trump administration's testing czar announced Monday that he will be leaving that position in mid-June. Adm. Brett Giroir told a meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS that he will be "demobilized" from his role overseeing coronavirus testing at FEMA in a few weeks and going back to his regular post at the Department of Health and Human Services. (Simmons-Duffin, 6/1)
The Hill: Trump Official Leading COVID-19 Testing To Return To Regular Duties
More than 10 million COVID-19 tests were completed in May alone, a significant improvement from the early days of the epidemic in the U.S. But Harvard experts say the country should be running 900,000 tests daily to contain the coronavirus. (Hellmann, 6/1)
