testing

FDA Authorizes First COVID-19 Test for People Without Symptoms

The change comes as new research finds similar levels of the virus in people who test people with and without symptoms

A medical personnel member takes samples on a woman at a "drive-thru" coronavirus testing lab set up by a local community center in West Palm Beach
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted LabCorp an emergency use authorization to test people with no symptoms for the coronavirus, the first time the agency has authorized such a test in asymptomatic individuals.

“FDA reissued the LabCorp COVID-19 RT-PCR Test EUA to expand use of the test to anyone, after the company provided scientific data showing the test’s ability to detect SARS-CoV-2 in a general, asymptomatic population,” the agency said in a statement.

Full NBC News coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Previously, to get a coronavirus diagnostic test, a person may have been asked to meet certain criteria, such as having symptoms of COVID-19 or close contact with a confirmed case.

In a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson for LabCorp said that the test has not changed, but that it has simply been granted authorization to expand its use to those without symptoms.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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