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- CDC to Retire COVID PCR Test, Urges Laboratories to Use Tests for the Flu and Coronavirus
After initially announcing plans to retire its novel coronavirus test, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published on August 2 additional information to avoid any confusion created by the announcement.
The CDC said it is retiring the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized hundreds of other SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests. Many of these tests are now higher throughput or can test for more than one illness at a time. During the initial weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, the CDC deployed its test because there were no other FDA-authorized methods available within the United States. After December 31, 2021, the CDC will formally withdraw the test.
In the CDC’s announcement, the federal agency recommended that laboratories that routinely conduct influenza testing as well as COVID-19 testing, such as public health laboratories, consider transitioning to a test that can generate a result for both influenza and SARS-CoV-2, rather than running separate tests for each virus. The CDC Influenza SARS-CoV-2 (Flu SC2) Multiplex Assay, one such assay available to public health laboratories, can simultaneously detect and differentiate SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, and Influenza B with one test. It is a more resource-efficient way for public health laboratories to meet influenza and SARS-CoV-2 surveillance goals.
The retirement of the CDC test only applies to its own test and not to other RT-PCR-based tests or all SARS-CoV-2 tests that have received Emergency Use Authorization from FDA. No other CDC tests for SARS-CoV-2 are affected by the announcement.
The CDC has published additional information about the retirement of the test on its website.