The NBA Is Responsible For A Potentially Massive Breakthrough In Coronavirus Testing
(ESPN) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization on Saturday allowing public use of a saliva-based test for the coronavirus developed at Yale University and funded by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
The test, known as SalivaDirect, is designed for widespread public screening. The cost per sample could be as low as about $4, though the cost to consumers will likely be higher than that -- perhaps around $15 or $20 in some cases, according to expert sources.
The leading coronavirus saliva test, developed at a Rutgers University lab and given the same permission by the FDA in mid-April, costs individual consumers up to $150 -- though that can be reduced to $60 or $70 in some circumstances, said Andrew Brooks, an associate professor at Rutgers and chief operating officer of RUCDR Infinite Biologics, the lab behind the test. The Rutgers test can be taken at home and returns results in 24 to 48 hours.
The Yale test funded by the league and players' union is simple enough to be used by labs everywhere provided they go through required accreditation processes... Depending on the proximity of the lab, consumers could get results back within a few hours -- and definitely within 24 hours...
"I helped make sure the right people in the White House were aware of the importance of the test, and the rest took care of itself," Slavitt told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Slavitt has been part of a working group of virus specialists that includes several sports scientists and the NBA league office.
"My interest was to help get a low-cost scalable test that can be a game-changer across the country," Slavitt said. "We didn't get leadership from where we needed it, but it's great to see the NBA emerge."
The NBA is far from a perfect league. No one ever claimed it was. But give credit where it's due. One of the issues with this pandemic in this country has been the lack of widely available tests which produce fast results. You have people getting tested - if they can even get a test - and then getting the results back a week later. Which is nearly meaningless in the grand scheme. Oh sick I didn't have Coronavirus seven days ago, surely that means I don't have it now after I've been living my life going from place to place, coming in contact with strangers and friends alike who also don't know if they have this weird disease that doesn't always show itself because it's a coward. Quick, low cost turn arounds can lead to a big time slowing down of this and, hopefully, get us back to the normal way of life we were all accustomed to before this shit.
But shoutout the NBA for thinking on the fly and linking up with Yale to develop SalivaDirect. $500,000 isn't a ton of money to a multi-billion dollar corporation and you've really gotta wonder why the NFL wasn't in on this, too. The NBA always had the Bubble to help them out. All we've heard about the NFL is that they can't Bubble because of the size of the League, which is absolutely true. So attempting to come up with some sort of solution should have been paramount. It, apparently, was not. This week alone you've seen the MLB suspend play for two more teams because of positive tests, the Syracuse football program hold out in demands of more frequent testing, and Tuukka Rask leaving the NHL's Bubble out of discomfort from being away from his family. If more widespread, accurate, cheap testing can lead to and easier and faster identification of positive cases that can, theoretically, lead to more control. Responsibility will still be on those who catch the Rona to, yanno, sit the fuck down and not be a selfish asshole for two weeks. But that's where good ol' fashion public shaming can come into play.
Get these tests out ASAP, get to spittin' in some tubes, and let's have society back by Thanksgiving. Deal?