L.A. is using a streamlined coronavirus test. But it has potential risks and rewards

When the coronavirus hit, Los Angeles County faced a testing crisis. Officials had only one test processing machine at its laboratory in Downey and had little hope of getting help from the federal government. Swabs were scarce. Laboratories were backlogged. And there weren't enough healthcare workers to take samples from patients.

Los Angeles County has partnered with a brand-new Silicon Valley start-up to provide more widely available testing. This start-up, Curative-Korva, offers a unique approach to testing that avoids the painful nasal swab and instead allows patients to self-administer the tests by swabbing their own mouths after coughing. Due to the self-administering nature of this approach, these tests require less protective gear and put both patients and healthcare workers at less risk, not to mention the tests are much less painful than the swabs. This approach, however, is not approved by the FDA, rather authorized on an emergency base only. Fred Turner, Curative’s founder and chief executive claims that the oral tests are “at least as accurate” as the nasal-swab test recommended by the FDA, but there are no conclusive results on the effectiveness of these tests available to the public at this time. Many health officials are wary of these less established tests due to the possibility of false positive results; Nevertheless, Curative claims to provide nearly 20 percent of all testing for the virus in California, and is looking to expand across the country.