Brooklyn, NY (March 9, 2020) - Lenco Diagnostic Laboratories (Lenco), one of NYC’s largest privately-owned full service reference laboratories, announced it is currently working with trusted manufacturing partners to launch a new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test. The test will aid in detection of the underlying novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and will be used with patients who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clinical criteria for testing.

Novel coronavirus has been identified as the cause of a disease outbreak in Wuhan, China. COVID-19, causing pneumonia-like symptoms, can spread from person to person. The risk of infection for COVID-19 is higher for older adults and those who have serious chronic medical conditions. The virus can easily be transmitted between people as close as six feet within distance of each other through respiratory droplets produced when coughing or sneezing.

“As COVID-19 continues to spread around the globe, Lenco has been diligently focusing its efforts on developing a test that will run on an automated, high throughput instrumentation platform, preparing us to efficiently provide rapid testing to a large number of patients should the need arise,” stated Dennis Tilman, Chief Operating Officer of Lenco. “Together with our trusted partners, we aim to validate and bring to market reliable COVID-19 testing in the next coming weeks. We are eager to meet the demands of our clients with a high-quality, scalable laboratory test that will help better manage this pandemic.”

The new test will be a molecular based assay utilizing PCR technology to provide a qualitative result and will be offered under current guidelines for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Until Lenco's COVID-19 test is fully validated and offered for use, Lenco recommends the NYC Department of Health (DOH) be contacted for testing of samples either at DOH laboratories or at the CDC. 

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