Abbott To Hire 2,000 Temporary Workers As It Ramps Up To Make $5 Coronavirus Tests

As Abbott Laboratories announced it had received emergency use authorization from the FDA for its $5 rapid coronavirus antigen test that provides test results in 15 minutes, the company was gearing up to bring on 2,000 temporary workers at its Gurnee, Illinois, facility to produce the test, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The jobs will not require technical expertise and will offer on-the-job training, with an Abbott spokeswoman telling the Tribune the workers will be in place for the “foreseeable future.”

Abbott’s rapid antigen test is portable and the size of a credit card. It does not require additional equipment for use. The test uses a nasal swab to test for the virus’ protein.

The test will be produced at a new Abbott facility, part of an investment by the company to ramp up delivey, the company said in a press release. The facility is slated to open in the next few weeks, the Tribune said.

At the time Abbott announced it had received the emergency use authorization from the FDA, it said it planned to produce up to 50 million tests a month starting in October.

President Trump is expected to announce a $750 million deal with Abbott for 150 million of the tests as he looks to expand coronavirus testing across the U.S. The announcement from Trump is expected to come during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday evening.

The U.S. has reported more than 5.8 million positive cases of the coronavirus, with COVID-19 deaths topping 180,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.