A company in Bergen has developed a rapid saliva test for detecting the coronavirus.
The method is now being tested in Germany, and the goal is to get the test on the market before Christmas.
After a swipe of a cotton swab in the mouth, the swab is placed in a tube connected to a sensor that’s connected to a box filled with electronics.
After a few minutes, the saliva test provides a precise result.
“The rapid test is based on a completely new type of technology,” CEO Joacim Holter in Lifecare told newspaper Bergens Tidende.
The company developed the test in collaboration with the German company Digital Diagnostics AG, which will finish testing the testing method in October.
Holter sees a number of advantages of the rapid test compared to regular testing.
“For the individual, mouth swabbing is far less invasive than a swab up in the sinuses.
Furthermore, it is an advantage to get a quick answer. The test will be carried out by health personnel or trained people.
You won’t avoid queues, but you’ll save all the laboratory resources,” Holter noted, suggesting that the price will be USD 60 per test (about NOK 550).
That is more than twice as much as each test costs the municipality today.
However, today’s tests also require laboratory analysis that costs around NOK 500.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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