Is this the end of the uncomfortable nose swabs? European laboratory analyses group Eurofins Scientific has unveiled a new at-home Covid-19 test kit. A test accessible to all called EmpowerDX SARS CoV 2 RT PCR – or EmpowerDX kit in a simplified form.
Already issued in the United-States since mid-October, this kit is also available online in Germany and Spain. Eurofins plans to apply for the necessary regulatory approvals for issuing similar tests in the United-Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and other countries as the statement of the laboratory group reads.
The company is proud to present these at-home tests. “To make patient sampling easier by non-healthcare professionals and especially for testing children, Eurofins validated a sampling method based on gargling with a sterile solution” the statement reads. Eurofins then adds sample is collected by the company than sends the results back within 24 hours.
Even better: Eurofins guarantees these tests can detect Covid-19 as well as the variant strain recently found in the United-Kingdom. Therefore, the company explains they give a part of its sequencing capacity to national European health authorities that are still not able to identify the variant of the virus in positive tests. Sharing data could enable them to assess the local presence of this new strain and act consequently to avoid the spread of this virus.
France will surely have to wait for several weeks before the local health authorities assess the product and decide whether they approve it or not and issue it in the country.
