Commercial Labs Announce Plans to Provide COVID-19 Testing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The FDA’s latest guidance released over the weekend provided an accelerated path for high-complexity laboratories to support additional testing capacity in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Prior to Saturday’s announcement, ACLA members were already working to develop novel tests for COVID-19. Additionally, we have been in close communication with public health agencies since January as part of our existing memorandum of understanding with the CDC, the Association of Public Health Laboratories, and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.
Today, clinical labs are stepping up in their own capacities to meet the growing demand for national testing, even without financial assurance from the federal government. ACLA members are accelerating deployment of COVID-19 tests, and today, three ACLA members announced the availability of COVID-19 testing in the coming days.
We appreciated the opportunity to meet yesterday with Vice President Pence and the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, and are committed to continuing our work with the Administration, the CDC and the FDA, as well as state and local public health labs, hospitals and academic medical centers to address this challenge.
