By Lynn Allison From Newsmax

Stocks soared for medical device maker Abbott Laboratories after it announced it received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration on March 18 to distribute its unique test to detect the COVID-19 virus.

According to Barron’s, the device called the ID NOW will be available the first week of April with the capability of performing more than 50,000 tests daily. The ID NOW delivers positive results in five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes, reports Barron’s.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will be fought on multiple fronts, and a portable molecular test that offers results in minutes adds to the broad range of diagnostic solutions needed to combat this virus,” Abbott’s CEO Robert Ford said in a statement.

Abbott says there are currently 18,000 ID NOW devices in the U.S. and the company will make them available initially in urgent care settings before supplying doctor’s offices and hospitals. The company should be able to produce 5 million tests in April, according to TechCrunch.

The ID NOW doesn’t need a lab to deliver the results and appears to be the fastest way to test for the virus. It’s like a lab in a box that is roughly the size of a small kitchen appliance and works with saliva and mucous samples swabbed from a patient. Testing has been a crucial stumbling block faced by the U.S. in terms of getting a handle on the coronavirus pandemic.

© 2020 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.

For more on this story go to; https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/virus-test-abbott/2020/03/31/id/960712/?ns_mail_uid=6952f1f9-507d-4a20-8cc0-0a1db158d76e&ns_mail_job=DM102032_04012020&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010102twa2ho