Thursday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Thursday’s business headlines.

Rapid test

A 15-minute COVID test from Abbot Laboratories that will be priced at just $5 has been granted emergency authorization for use in the U.S.

This could ease the bottleneck that has crimpled much of the nation’s testing capacity.

Abbott will start shipping the test within two weeks and intends to manufacture 50 million tests a month by October. The aim: meet a surge in demand from Americans seeking to return to in-person schoolrooms and work.

Moderna

Moderna said its experimental coronavirus vaccine-induced responses in people aged 56 years and older that were comparable to those seen in younger adults in a small study, a promising sign for vulnerable age group.

Older adults are at a higher risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 than younger people.

Moderna plans to submit the results for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Homes flooded

A new projection from Realtor.com will provided more granular detail for millions of homes across the U.S. on flood risk.

When pulling up a property listing on Realtor.com, the site now prominently displays the flood risk data directly below the property’s square footage and home information.

That makes flood risk information on homes, which may not have been available to homeowners at all before widely accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Hurrican Laura

Laura is targeting the heart of America’s energy industry, shutting down more than 80% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and a third of the Gulf Coast’s refining capacity.

The storm could cause as much as a $25 billion in damage and economic losses, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with ENKI Research. The destruction to refineries could cost $5 billion alone.