Alongside vaccinations,health experts believe rapid at-home testing will provide a crucial tool to bring the pandemic under control.
"By authorising a test for over-the-counter use,the FDA allows it to be sold in places like drug stores,where a patient can buy it,swab their nose,run the test and find out their results in as little as 20 minutes,"Hahn said in a statement.
Lamar Alexander,the chair of the Senate health committee,said:"This is a genuine breakthrough in COVID-19 testing."
The US is currently testing around 2 million people a day,but health experts say that number should be far higher. It can still take several days in many parts of the US to receive a test result.
Studies showed the Ellume test correctly identified 96 per cent of positive samples and 100 per cent of negative samples in individuals with COVID-19 symptoms.