Farringdon, London-based Cera announced a high point in its revenues of £89.5 million ($120 million) since their 2016 launch. While it is primarily a home care company d/b/a-ing under Cera Care (and seeks to hire an additional 5,000 staff, mostly professional carers), we noted back in March their £52 million ($70 million) raise and the launch of SmartCare, a sensor-based analytics platform that uses machine learning and data analytics in real-time on behaviors to personalize care and detect health risks with a reported 93 percent accuracy. Cera also has a proprietary app to connect families with Cera on visits and progress. Unfortunately the Cera website is singularly uninformative on company news and SmartCare. Mobihealthnews

Alcove is partnering with Cornell Court in Saffron Waldon, Essex, an extra-care community developed and run by L&Q Living, to fit out apartments with their in-residence Carephone tablet. Having the access to the tablet, residents can easily initiate a group video call with family members, as well as attend virtual care and therapy sessions and activities including bingo and exercise classes. There is also access to a ‘virtual concierge’. The combination of onsite services and the Carephone access helps with resident independence. All helpful as the UK remains on a non-virtual lockdown in most places and Christmas looks distinctly un-festive this year, especially for older adults. Local Authority Building & Maintenance (LABM) Online.

COVID-19 has certainly been a boom of a boon for at-home testing companies.

• Everlywell just raised a hefty Series D of $179 million. They market and process over 30 FDA-cleared kits, including (of course) symptomatic COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2, lower nasal swab) with a follow up from the lab in 24-48 hours via their app coupled with a telehealth consult. Other kits include thyroid, indoor/outdoor and food allergies, and hepatitis C, at prices ranging from $49 to a comprehensive food sensitivity test at $259. Prediction: Everlywell and similar companies will be 2021’s 23andMe/Ancestry.com.  Fierce Biotech
• An equally intriguing ‘home run’? FDA cleared the first ‘all-in-one’ home test for COVID-19 under an EUA (Emergency Use Authorization). The Lucira Health molecular test from a nasal swab sample is completed by a battery-powered handheld unit that includes all the reagents needed to process the test. The unit then shows the result with a green light for positive or negative. Average time: 2 minutes. Molecular tests are more sensitive and accurate than the current quick tests of antigens. Go-to-market of the single-use test kit is expected early spring 2021, at a cost of $50. The by-prescription test can also be performed in point of care settings. The company will be filing early next year to have as an option prescription via telehealth. Sutter Health in Northern California and Cleveland Clinic Florida in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale participated in the trials and will be first on distribution. Fierce Biotech, Lucira press release, FDA release

Remember when any burp from Apple was Major News, breathlessly awaited? Now ho-hum. FDA cleared the latest update of the Apple Watch’s ECG monitoring. Now the feature enables heart rate detection up to 150 beats per minute and adds a classification category called A-Fib with high heart rate. The Apple Watch has been used in some studies to monitor for atrial fibrillation. No release date is set for the watch. However, AliveCor is suing Apple on patent infringement of three patents, from the Apple Watch Series 4 and later devices, so stand by. Mobilhealthnews