At-Home Coronavirus Test Kits Are Now Available Via EverlyWell

The Austin, Texas-based home kit company announced that they have developed an at-home collection kit with telehealth diagnosis for COVID-19. The testing kit will be available to consumers starting Monday, March 23. There will be an initial supply of 30,000 tests offered by the company to try to combat the rise of coronavirus cases in the United States. The company plans to have testing and diagnosis capacity for a quarter of a million people weekly.

“Everlywell was founded to give people affordable, convenient access to lab testing. Never has our mission been more important,” said Julia Cheek, founder and CEO of Everlywell, said in a written statement. “Our team has been working around the clock with top scientists and laboratories in the nation to develop a test that we will make available at the lowest price possible while covering our costs, at no profit to the company. We have also reached out to government and public health officials to explore possibilities to provide it for free.”

The COVID-19 test can be requested online by consumers who may be experiencing the symptoms of COVID-19. Samples can be collected at home, preventing further exposure for themselves and the public. All of Everlywell’s laboratory partners conducting COVID-19 testing are complying with FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19 testing.

“As the COVID-19 public health emergency continues to worsen with community spread across the United States, there is an unmet medical need to broaden the access to testing for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in a responsible manner to complement and help alleviate the potential overload on healthcare systems and healthcare providers if testing was only available in the limited clinical setting,” said Dr. Frank Ong, M.D., chief medical and scientific officer of Everlywell.

Consumers can go to www.everlywell.com where they can complete a screening questionnaire based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). The test will be available for $135 and will be covered by participating HSA and FSA providers. Everlywell has contacted government officials and public health departments to see if the test can be made available for free.

The testing experience includes:

• Overnight sample delivery (a shipping label is included).
• Infectious disease sample collection and shipping materials to safely ship your sample, using COVID-19 guidelines set by the CDC and the recommendations provided by the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN).
• Private, secure digital results provided to all users within days. (EverlyWell is a HIPAA compliant company and we never sell customer data).
• Individuals with positive results will be offered a telehealth consult with an independent board-certified physician from PWNHealth.
• Positive results will be communicated to all mandated federal and state reporting agencies.

“The extreme shortage of tests for COVID-19 puts millions of Americans at risk,” added Cheek. “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. We are committed to this fight, and we’re here to help.”