Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System has developed a rapid COVID-19 test that screens for three of the variants spreading in the U.S. all at once.
The test, which gives results in about four hours, can detect the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the U.K., the P.1 variant, which first emerged in Brazil, and the B.1.351 variant, first detected in South Africa, according to an April 2 announcement. It's provided to patients who test positive for COVID-19 through initial testing.
Atlantic runs the tests at its in-house laboratory, which currently completes between 1,500 and 2,000 tests daily. The health system also plans to develop a test that can screen for other emerging strains, such as those in California and New York.
The polymerase chain reaction test was developed in partnership with Seegene, a molecular diagnostics company.