coronavirus testing 3-21-20 ap.jpeg

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, health care personnel test a person in the passenger seat of a car for coronavirus at a Kaiser Permanente medical center parking lot in San Francisco. The Associated Press has found that the critical shortage of testing swabs, protective masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer can be tied to a sudden drop in imports of medical supplies. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Washington, DC (CNN) -- The US Food and Drug Administration announced it has approved the use of the first rapid diagnostic test that could detect coronavirus in approximately 45 minutes.

The authorization was made Friday and tests will begin shipping next week, according to a statement from California-based Cepheid, the company manufacturing the tests.

"During this time of increased demand for hospital services, Clinicians urgently need an on-demand diagnostic test for real-time management of patients being evaluated for admission to health-care facilities," said Dr. David Persing, MD, Ph.D., chief medical and technology officer at Cepheid.

"An accurate test delivered close to the patient can be transformative -- and help alleviate the pressure that the emergence of the 2019-nCoV outbreak has put on healthcare facilities that need to properly allocate their respiratory isolation resources," Persing added.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

Copyright 2020 CNN and WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.

 

 
Â