FDA Clears First COVID-19 Saliva Test According to NBC News, Rutgers University researchers in New Jersey have been given the green light to proceed with the new kind of test.
The test will first be made available to hospitals and clinics affiliated with the university.
Currently, health care workers are required to swab a patient's nose or throat to test for coronavirus.
The new saliva-based test will require patients to spit into a plastic tube, which lessens infection risk for health care workers.
Andrew Brooks, Rutgers lab director According to lab director Andrew Brooks, the Rutgers lab can currently process 10,000 patient samples per day.
The FDA is advising any patients who test negative with the saliva method to have their results confirmed with a second method.
