Axios incorrectly reported on Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration had signed off on a new and faster type of coronavirus test. We have removed that inaccurate story from our website.
What happened: A medical distribution company called Bodysphere said in a press release that the FDA had granted an “emergency use authorization” that could allow patients to get a diagnosis in only about two minutes.
- Axios reprinted that incorrect information, based on the press release.
- But the FDA confirmed Wednesday that it has not issued such an authorization. No two-minute diagnosis is available.
Axios' policy is to correct our mistakes and not to delete them.
- But because this story was premised entirely on the significance of an FDA action that didn't actually happen, and because diagnosing coronavirus is such an urgent and sensitive subject for so many people, we have removed this story in an effort to avoid causing any further confusion. We apologize for our mistake.