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ABT Stock Down Less Than 1%, Abbott Labs Developing COVID-19 Tests for Mass Screening

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) has developed three COVID-19 testing kits. Sources say that the kits include five-minute rapid tests. There is also an antibody test that detects COVID-19 antibodies in the human bloodstream. The biomedical company currently has three COVID-19 tests. Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Abbott Labs (ABT) stock price was at $95.80 (-0.21%).

The company is selling the antibody tests at the same price as regular flu tests. Abbott Labs is even thinking of getting the tests out of the hospitals and into critical areas susceptible to COVID-19. Such places include nursing homes and urgent-care clinics.

Rober Ford who is the CEO of Abbott Labs stated:

“Our first phase was to roll this out to ensure the front-line workers were tested and protected. As we start to ramp up manufacturing … we’ll start to implement those actions into the month of May into June.”

Demand for Abbotts’ other tests has fallen across the board. This has affected the company’s bottom line. So much so that company suspended its forecast for the year. The coronavirus has created a storm that has cast every other medical condition into the shadows.

Sources say that Abbott Labs is also working on a fourth test. This test is a “lateral flow” test that will diagnose a person even faster. The CEO stated:

“This will allow us to scale up to numbers much more significant. This falls in our ability to look at mass testing for the general population. They are on time now and they are almost there.”

The new test comes just in time as Americans are returning to work and will need quick interventions. These interventions may be needed in case of COVID-19related emergencies.

It is also needed worldwide as governments are trying to figure out how to deal with the situation besides the movement restrictions.

The movement restrictions have hurt global businesses and record numbers of jobs have been lost.

The United States Alone has lost about 16 million-plus jobs and is in real danger of a recession. It appears that things are going to be different for a while. At least that is what Robert Ford thinks:

“We know we’re going to be working a little bit different than we’ve historically been working. I think we’ll see people wearing masks, I think we’ll see more cleaning of doorknobs and elevator buttons. Running these tests on top of what you are doing will provide another tool to assist schools and companies to get people back to work.”

While tests aren’t a magic pill to make the coronavirus disappear, they are aimed at curbing its spread. The pandemic has defied the odds so far. Rapid testing would even the odds and enable the world to get this out of the way.

This is what Abbott Labs is aimed at doing.

ABT Stock Down Less Than 1%, Abbott Labs Developing COVID-19 Tests for Mass Screening

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