<p>US President Donald Trump will announce on Thursday a deal for 150 million rapid Covid-19 tests as he eyes a return to normal life ahead of November's elections, White House officials told AFP.</p>.<p>The purchase from Abbott Laboratories is part of a $750 million deal with the company, a senior administration official said.</p>.<p>It comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval for a rapid test made by the Illinois-based firm that is billed as costing $5 and giving results in 15 minutes.</p>.<p>"This is a major development that will help our country to remain open, get Americans back to work and kids back to school," White House communications director Alyssa Farah said.</p>.<p>"The Trump Administration is proud to partner with Abbott labs to make this purchase possible to help the American people."</p>.<p>CNBC reported Trump will debut the deal in a speech Thursday accepting his party's nomination for a second term on the final night of the Republican National Convention.</p>.<p>Abbott did not respond to a request for comment.</p>.<p>The United States is home to the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, with more than 180,000 deaths and 5.8 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.</p>.<p>Trump is up against former vice president Joe Biden in what is expected to be a tough re-election contest in November, with voters weighing the impact from the COVID-19 outbreak that's also caused tens of millions of job losses and a sharp economic downturn.</p>.<p>Expanding testing is seen as key to controlling the spread of the coronavirus, and Abbott said on Wednesday the test called BinaxNOW, which is about the size of a credit card, is 97 per cent sensitive within the first seven days of symptom onset.</p>.<p>It will be coupled with a free app called NAVICA that will let people display their recent testing results upon demand.</p>.<p>"BinaxNOW and the NAVICA app give us an affordable, easy-to-use, scalable test, and a complimentary digital health tool to help us have a bit more normalcy in our daily lives," Abbott CEO Robert B. Ford said in a statement.</p>
<p>US President Donald Trump will announce on Thursday a deal for 150 million rapid Covid-19 tests as he eyes a return to normal life ahead of November's elections, White House officials told AFP.</p>.<p>The purchase from Abbott Laboratories is part of a $750 million deal with the company, a senior administration official said.</p>.<p>It comes a day after the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval for a rapid test made by the Illinois-based firm that is billed as costing $5 and giving results in 15 minutes.</p>.<p>"This is a major development that will help our country to remain open, get Americans back to work and kids back to school," White House communications director Alyssa Farah said.</p>.<p>"The Trump Administration is proud to partner with Abbott labs to make this purchase possible to help the American people."</p>.<p>CNBC reported Trump will debut the deal in a speech Thursday accepting his party's nomination for a second term on the final night of the Republican National Convention.</p>.<p>Abbott did not respond to a request for comment.</p>.<p>The United States is home to the world's worst coronavirus outbreak, with more than 180,000 deaths and 5.8 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.</p>.<p>Trump is up against former vice president Joe Biden in what is expected to be a tough re-election contest in November, with voters weighing the impact from the COVID-19 outbreak that's also caused tens of millions of job losses and a sharp economic downturn.</p>.<p>Expanding testing is seen as key to controlling the spread of the coronavirus, and Abbott said on Wednesday the test called BinaxNOW, which is about the size of a credit card, is 97 per cent sensitive within the first seven days of symptom onset.</p>.<p>It will be coupled with a free app called NAVICA that will let people display their recent testing results upon demand.</p>.<p>"BinaxNOW and the NAVICA app give us an affordable, easy-to-use, scalable test, and a complimentary digital health tool to help us have a bit more normalcy in our daily lives," Abbott CEO Robert B. Ford said in a statement.</p>