US FDA chief self-quarantines

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn went into self quarantine for the next 14 days after he came in contact with someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the federal agency spokesman Michael Felberbaum has said.

“As Dr. Hahn wrote in a note to staff today, he recently came into contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19," according to Felderbaum's statement cited by CNN.

"Per CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, he is now in self-quarantine for the next two weeks. He immediately took a diagnostic test and tested negative for the virus.”

While the FDA did not name the person Hahn came into contact with, President Donald Trump announced earlier Friday that Vice President Mike Pence's Press Secretary Katie Price had tested positive.

Meanwhile, the US FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for the first at-home COVID-19 test that uses saliva samples, the agency said in a news release.

Rutgers University's RUCDR Infinite Biologics lab received an amended emergency authorization late Thursday. With the test, people in the US can collect their own saliva at home and send samples to a lab for results.

Testing for Covid-19 so far has usually involved nose or throat swab samples.

In April, Rutgers University announced that the FDA authorized the saliva test it developed with other groups for "emergency use" for diagnosing COVID-19.

So far, the United States has recorded at least 1,283,929 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 77,180 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.

 

Dhaka/AI