U.S. OKs two more home tests

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials have authorized two more over-the-counter COVID-19 tests that can be used at home to get rapid results.

The move by the Food and Drug Administration is expected to vastly expand the availability of cheap home tests that many experts have advocated since the early days of the outbreak. The announcement late Wednesday comes as U.S. testing numbers continue to slide, even as the number of new coronavirus infections is rising again.

The FDA said Abbott’s BinaxNow and Quidel’s QuickVue tests now can be sold without a prescription. Both tests were first approved last year but came with conditions that limited their use, including prescription requirements and instructions that they be used only in people with symptoms.

The home tests allow users to collect a sample themselves with a nasal swab that’s then inserted into a test strip. Results are usually available in 10 to 20 minutes. Most other COVID-19 tests require a swab sample taken by a health worker at a testing location.

The agency authorized an over-the-counter COVID-19 test from an Australian company in December, but it’s still not widely available.

Abbott said its test would be priced in the “single digits” per test and should be available in “coming weeks” at pharmacies, supermarkets and other chains. The company can produce about 50 million tests per month.

Quidel didn’t disclose pricing for its test.