Bay Area companies are beginning to ramp up production and delivery of novel coronavirus tests, and, as of Friday, those tests can be delivered to homes.
Dr. Caesar Djavaherian, co-founder of Bay Area health care company Carbon Health, said his company’s tests started going out on Thursday. People can order one from the company’s website. The cost is $167.50.
“You swab your mouth, put it back into this plastic container and you ship it back off to us and typically we'll get the results anywhere from three to five days,” Djavaherian said.
Fremont-based Spectrum Lithograph usually works on building packaging for a wide variety of products, but now it’s focused on getting coronavirus tests packaged and out the door so people can get checked. The company has shelved all other projects to focus on the testing kits, and, even while offering to let employees shelter at home, says it's running as fast as it can.
“You know, it’s kind of the American way,” Shawn Pereira with Spectrum Lithograph said. “We're coming together doing what we got to do. Fortunately, we all feel healthy, but there's people out there that are not, and they need some way of validation of knowing if they got the virus or not.”
This is the kind of crisis that attracts scammers. People looking for tests should make sure the company they’re dealing with is FDA approved. To do so, ask what lab the company works with then reach out to the California Department of Public Health. Officials with the state can verify if a lab is certified to test for the virus.
