Coronavirus ‘spit test’ used by NBA nearing FDA approval
The test will be given out for free and shows results in three hours
Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have created a saliva-based method of coronavirus testing that's on the verge of being approved by the FDA.
The test called “Saliva Direct,” once approved, will be administered to any company or lab for free. The test itself will cost $1 to $4 to run.
The NBA first began testing Yale's saliva test in June. The league announced in a statement that they are “encouraged that the contributions of our players, team and league staff are helping the larger fight against COVID-19 by advancing this new testing technology.”
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Yale School of Public Health Postdoctoral Fellow Chantal Vogels told FOX Business that the saliva test is safer than others since it reduces the urge to sneeze and cough.
A man takes a coronavirus test at a mobile site at the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, in Los Angeles. July 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
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“It’s also safer because we don’t have the risk of people starting to cough or sneeze which can happen when you take a swab,” she said. “And this is just simply slowly spitting… expelling saliva into the tube. So that’s indeed less invasive.”
Results are available in as little as three hours after completing the test. If approved, the test could be widely distributed in the next two months.
“We don't make any money out of this,” Vogels said. “We don't want this to be something commercial. We want to keep the cost down with products that are currently available. And we just want to make sure that, you know, testing gets scaled up and becomes more available so that we can… prevent the transmission of the coronavirus.”
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