ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that New York has received approval to conduct its own tests for COVID-19, a move aimed at providing quicker turnarounds for results.
Cuomo said the state's test has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and that testing will begin immediately at Wadsworth Lab near the state Capitol in Albany.
"This approval will expedite wait time and improve New York's ability to more effectively manage the coronavirus situation as it unfolds," Cuomo said in a prepared release.
There are no confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York state, though one person is under investigation in New York City.
As state and big-city public health labs awaited a fix for faulty COVID-19 test kits from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York City and state sought permission this week to run their own version of the test.
Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19 has sickened more than 85,000 people and killed more than 2,900 around the world.
