SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News) – With global shortages of testing kits for the coronavirus, Utah-based company, Co-Diagnostics, has created affordable and advanced technology that bring results quickly.

It’s a small, compact red box that holds 48 test tubes at a time, and takes 90 minutes for lab technicians to know if you test positive or negative with COVID-19.

“Basically, what we have is an entire lab set up in a box,” said Joseph Featherstone, a business director with the medical company.

Explaining how the test works, Featherstone said technicians are able to see results in real-time.

“You’ll see a graph and if there’s no virus, then the line basically stays flat, and if you do have the virus, then starting about 20 to 25 minutes into the test, you’ll start to see this amplification curve that will come up and show that you’re positive,” Featherstone said.

  • Courtesy Co-Diagnostics
  • Courtesy Co-Diagnostics
  • Courtesy Co-Diagnostics
  • Courtesy Co-Diagnostics
  • Courtesy Co-Diagnostics

Featherstone said the company’s sold kits to multiple countries, and just this week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sales in the United States.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and speed of diagnosis, Featherstone said the technology is cutting-edge and costs less than $10.

“That that’s what this company’s offering. Is to help us stay calm in this very tenuous market right now and have the best options forward for saving time, which is critical and for even saving money,” Jan Garbett, a support of testing.

“Because you can have great technology, but if people can’t afford it, it doesn’t do you any good,” Featherstone said.

ABC4 News reached out to the Utah Department of Health to ask if they will use the new test, but officials said they rely on the Utah Public Health Laboratory and the Center for Disease Control – not private businesses.

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