Kroger Co. is launching a first-of-its-kind Covid test consumers can perform at home with the help of their smartphones.
Kroger Health, the health care division of downtown Cincinnati-based Kroger (NYSE: KR), partnered with Menlo Park, Calif.-based health care tech company Gauss to make the first smartphone-enabled at-home Covid rapid antigen test kit available nationwide. An antigen test is a rapid Covid test. Gauss developed the cutting-edge testing technology so people can conduct their own at-home, affordable tests to determine whether they have the coronavirus.
The test will be the first to provide rapid test results using a smartphone and a lateral flow assay that’s similar to an at-home pregnancy test, the companies said in a release. It doesn’t require a laboratory, telemedicine visit or any specialized electronics.
The test is awaiting Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization. Once the approval is received, Kroger Health expects to make the test available at Kroger.com and over the counter at its 2,200 pharmacies across the country. Kroger, the nation’s largest operator of traditional supermarkets, has nearly 2,800 supermarkets in 35 states.
Gauss produced its first 1.5 million tests last month. Those are ready to be distributed as soon as the FDA gives approval. Gauss is able to produce up to 30 million tests per month.
The test comes with what the companies call easy-to-follow video instructions in an app. Patients use a nasal swab for the test and use the app to scan it about 15 minutes later. The app uses artificial intelligence to read the test and provide patients with results within seconds. The app shares the results anonymously with public health agencies.
"Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kroger Heath has remained committed to helping people live healthier lives by offering a variety of Covid-19 testing solutions," Kroger Health president Colleen Lindholz said in a release. She called the new test an “affordable, innovative solution."
Gauss developed the test with Durham, N.C.-based rapid diagnostics biotech company Cellex Inc. It uses a HIPAA-compliant smartphone app developed by Gauss.
The test has been found in clinical trials to show 93% agreement on positive tests and 99% agreement on negative tests with PCR tests that involving genetic material that are considered the gold standard of Covid tests. But PCR tests often take a couple of days to get results.
This is the latest of multiple moves Kroger has made to provide testing and vaccines involving the coronavirus. It opened an off-site vaccine clinic in Northern Kentucky last week. It has administered more than 200,000 Covid-19 vaccines, largely from its pharmacies and clinics. The company said earlier this month it will pay employees $100 if they get the full coronavirus vaccine.
