Bill Gates funds at-home test kits to learn how coronavirus spreads
Bill Gates and his family foundation are working to end the coronavirus pandemic.
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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is funding a home coronavirus testing program to find out how the virus travels through communities. The billionaire philanthropist works with the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) to send self-smear tests to Seattle homes. The program collects nasal samples, even from people who show no symptoms.
“As a surveillance program, SCAN’s goal is not to test everyone or to replace medical care,” said Gates in a blog post Tuesday. Instead, he said the program “has the potential to become an important tool for health officials looking for insight into the spread and behavior of the virus.”
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The home test results are combined with information about age, gender, race, zip code, and pre-existing health conditions, Gates said. The data is then used by researchers to track the spread of COVID-19 and localize vulnerable communities.
The program is already testing 300 people per day, according to Gates, and will accept applications to send the test on Wednesday SCAN website.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donates $ 300 million to global efforts to fight COVID-19. In April, Gates said the Foundation’s “total attention” was on the coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday, there are nearly 4.3 million confirmed cases and 293,000 deaths worldwide, including more than 1.3 million cases and 82,000 deaths in the U.S..
