If you think you may have been exposed to or gotten sick from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, you can now get tested in the comfort of your living room.
Quest Diagnostics on Thursday announced it has launched a new, FDA-authorized at-home COVID-19 test kit.
Here's how it works: patients can visit the QuestDirect website and buy one of the test kits, which cost $128.30 ($119 for the test, plus a $9.30 physician fee). A doctor will then contact the patient online to make sure they qualify. Quest will then ship a test kit to the patient's home.
Each test kit comes with detailed instructions for using the included swab to gather specimens inside the patient's nose. The patient then puts the sample in a provided FedEx Overnight envelope to be sent to a nearby laboratory.
A Quest spokesperson told NBC Bay Area patients can expect results within about two days. After they learn whether they're COVID-19 positive, a doctor will contact the patient to answer any questions.
Quest said it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization for the at-home test through an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA. This means that while the test is not yet FDA approved, the agency gave Quest permission to market the tests while further research continues.
We wanted to know if health insurance will cover the test. Policies differ among insurance providers, so check with yours before you pay for any COVID-19 test, to see if your policy will reimburse you some or all of the cost.
