Rutgers Lab Helps Create a Faster Cheaper COVID-19 Test

A lab at the Rutgers University School of Medicine in Newark helped produce a faster and cheaper test for COVID-19 that is now arriving at hospitals in New York and New Jersey.

The test only takes about 45 minutes to receive a result, and can be used in hospitals, doctor's offices and eventually pharmacies.  Some people with COVID-19 symptoms have been waiting for two weeks to get results from the current testing method. 

The new test was developed by Cepheid of California and approved by the FDA on March 21.  

"Everything got done with lightning speed," said Dr. David Alland, chief of infectious disease at the Rutgers School of Medicine. He has been working with Cepheid for many years and says the test they developed for tuberculosis took about 10 years to reach the market.

"This is done in a bio-safety level 3 laboratory where everyone's wearing the equivalent of spacesuits," Alland said. "Going in and out of a laboratory can take 15 to 20 minutes. So a bathroom break is a big deal. You can't scratch your nose. You can't wipe the sweat off your face." 

The new test works with Cepheid machines that are already in use, some of which are in New Jersey and New York hospitals,  according to a company spokesman.  Cepheid has ramped up production of the machines and says it's currently manufacturing them around the clock.

Correction: This article was changed to reflect the difference between tests and the machines that analyze the tests.