The speed and accuracy of COVID-19 testing has been a major issue during this pandemic.
A new saliva-based coronavirus test being deployed on the front lines appears to fit the bill.
Health experts say the saliva test is more scalable and decreases contact between patients and health care workers.
"It is a simpler method of collection," Rutgers University RUCDR Infinite Biologics COO and Director of Technology Development Andy Brooks said. "It’s safer for health care professionals and it’s preserving PPE, which should be used for taking care of sick patients."
Brooks told KCBS Radio’s Stan Bunger his lab team found a 100% correlation between the swab and saliva.
"How people are determining accuracy, with respect to the false negative (coronavirus test), one day I had a headache (and) I tested negative," Brooks said. "Now, I have a headache and a sore throat the next day, I tested positive. Was is the test? (It is) likely not."
If you’ve been tested, you know a saliva swab would be a welcome alternative to the nasal method, a more invasive test used to collect a bodily fluid sample.
The first testing site opened in New Jersey on Wednesday following the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency authorization for the method.
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