FDA approves first saliva test for coronavirus

In this April 3, 2020, photo, blue preservation solution is shown at Spectrum DNA in Draper, Utah. The company has developed a test kit to detect the coronavirus in patients' saliva. At least two Utah companies have developed tests and gotten emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: molecular diagnostics company Co-Diagnostics and ancestry-testing kit maker Spectrum DNA.(Rick Bowmer/AP)

Researchers at Rutgers University now have a new tool to diagnose cases of COVID-19. With the authorization of the FDA, the school said on Monday, they now have clearance to use a new saliva test for coronavirus, which both expands the current testing options available and potentially signals a safer path forward for health care workers.

The test, which will initially be offered through hospitals and clinics affiliated with Rutgers, has the patient spit several times into a plastic tube, with that tube then analyzed for coronavirus at a laboratory. Compared to the current approach to testing, which involves a swab from the patient’s nose or throat, this test is both more convenient for patients and better for workers at risk of being exposed to the virus.

“This prevents health care professionals from having to actually be in the face of somebody that is symptomatic,” said Andrew Brooks, director of the Rutgers lab that developed the test, to NBC.

Based on results from 60 patients so far, Rutgers says, they’ve tested for the virus with 100% accuracy, and they have the capacity to process as many as 10,000 tests a day. Still, given the brand-new nature of the test, the FDA is still for the time being requiring anyone who tests negative with saliva to get a second result from a more-proven method.