First Home Test For Coronavirus Approved By The Federal Government

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved COVID-19 home testing for the first time.

Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) will oversee the testing of samples self-collected by patients at home using the company's COVID-19 Test home collection kit, the FDA said in a statement. 

The FDA will now allow testing of a sample collected from the patient's nose using a designated self-collection kit that contains nasal swabs and saline. Once patients self-swab to collect their nasal sample, they mail their sample, in an insulated package, to a LabCorp lab for testing.

The FDA only authorized the specific LabCorp COVID-19 RT-PCR Test. It was not immediately clear how people would obtain the test, how long the results would take and when it might be available in the Chicago area.