Update (3/23/20): As TechCrunch is reporting, the Food and Drug Administration updated its Emergency Use Authorization guidelines to bar private labs from collecting at-home samples on Saturday, so Everlywell and other startups who launched at-home COVID-19 testing programs are discontinuing them. Instead, Everlywell is distributing its tests to healthcare workers.
Everlywell, an Austin startup that has been working to speed up and deploy COVID-19 testing nationwide, announced Wednesday that it will start sending out at-home test kits this Monday.
Earlier this month, Everlywell offered a $1 million incentive to certified laboratories that prioritize the development of a COVID-19 diagnostic test. Since then, the company says it has been working “round the clock” with these labs to develop a test, accomplishing its goal in a matter of days.
To start, Everlywell will be supplying 30,000 kits. Eventually, the company says it will be able to process about 250,000 tests a week.
Here is how it will work, according to Everlywell: Those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms can request a kit on the company’s website after they complete a screening questionnaire based on guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The kits will include everything needed to collect a sample at home and ship it. The samples will be shipped overnight to the nearest certified laboratory. Digital results will be made available online within 48 hours of the lab receiving the sample.
In its announcement, Everlywell stressed its HIPPA compliance and the fact that it never sells customer data. Any positive results will be communicated to mandated agencies. Free telehealth consultations with independent, board-certified physicians will also be made available to those who test positive for the novel coronavirus.
The tests will cost $135 each, and Everlywell says it will not be making a profit from those sales. The company also says it is communicating with government officials and public-health departments to see if the tests can eventually be made free.
“Everlywell was founded to give people affordable, convenient access to lab testing. Never has our mission been more important,” founder and CEO Julia Cheek said in a statement. “Everlywell is committed to helping stop the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. by making this test widely available. As the national leader in at-home lab testing, we want to use our resources and expertise to help as many people as we can.”
