FDA approves Quest COVID-19 test for ‘pooled’ sample use

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency approval a new approach to coronavirus testing in which several people's samples are tested together in batches instead of individually, speeding up the process.

The FDA said Saturday that it reissued an emergency use authorization to Quest Diagnostics to use its COVID-19 test with pooled samples. It is the first test to be authorized to be used in this way.

With pooling, instead of running each person’s test individually, laboratories would combine parts of samples from several people and test them together.

A negative result would clear everyone in the batch. A positive result would require each sample to be individually retested.