The U.S. government is investing nearly $500 million in a company making coronavirus tests that provide results in roughly 20 minutes.
CNBC reported that the Department of Health and Human Services is giving $481 million to Cue Health, a startup in California whose COVID-19 tests can be performed and processed without the use of a lab.
Johnson & Johnson is another investor in the company, which plans to ramp up its production of the test kit from several thousand per day to 100,000 per day by March.
The U.S. government will purchase 6 million of the tests and 30,000 instruments that are used to process them, CNBC noted.
"Cue's tests provide results in about 20 minutes with the kind of accuracy provided by lab tests that can take several days, adding to our dramatically expanding supply of rapid tests that can support safe reopening," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said.
The test requires swabbing the lower part of the nose, compared to other tests that require healthcare workers to take samples much deeper in a patient's nasal cavity. Test results will appear in Cue Health's mobile app.
"Today's announcement of millions of additional rapid tests further demonstrates that the administration is sparing no effort or expense to save lives and help our country safely open, reopen, and stay open," White House spokesman Michael Bars said, according to CNBC.
Cue is one of several companies the federal government has invested in as the nation grapples with the pandemic that has infected more than 8 million Americans and killed more than 220,000.
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