Saliva-based test was developed at Rutgers University.
The Food and Drug Administration deployed its emergency-use authorization to approve the first saliva-based coronavirus test on Monday. The new test aims to allow for increased testing and safety for health professionals conducting the screening.
The test, which was developed in partnership with Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs, will be available through hospitals and clinics associated with the university.
Current testing requires health professionals to take samples from a patient’s nose or throat. Hospitals and clinics have instructed those professionals to get rid of gloves and masks after being in contact with a patient who may have the virus, a practice that strains already-stretched medical supplies.
But the new test will allow patients to spit in a tube several times and give it to the health professional for testing, making it less likely they to pass along an infection.
At his press briefing on Monday, President Trump referenced the new test as a “game-changer,” because of its protection for the medical professionals. The White House also called the researcher to congratulate him and to offer support for increasing the testing capabilities.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For medical researchers and laboratories who are continuing to work on testing, therapeutics, and possible vaccines.
- For medical professionals who administer and those who evaluate testing of potential coronavirus patients.
- With praise for what appears to be a “flattening out of the curve” of COVID-19 cases in major hotspots.
Sources: The Hill, Wall Street Journal
RECENT PRAYER UPDATES
