Saliva-based tests could help ramp up wide-scale coronavirus testing in the US, while protecting frontline healthcare staff and overcoming supply shortages. Rutgers' test is currently available to the But a larger-scale rollout of the test could be on the horizon, considering the university's RUCDR lab has the capacity to run 10,000 tests per day and the FDA's recent EUA should enable other labs to adopt this form of testing, per CNBC.
And the nature of Rutgers' test — which requires individuals with coronavirus symptoms to spit into a cup — could be significant in overcoming testing barriers such as limited supplies and mitigating the spread of the virus among vulnerable healthcare workers.
We're also seeing fast-moving health tech startups like MicroGen DX extending into saliva-based coronavirus testing — but murky home use guidelines could stunt consumer adoption. At-home testing firms' are also wading into saliva-based coronavirus testing, but their efforts have been hampered by FDA regulatory hurdles, which could further exacerbate the US' lagging testing efforts. a saliva-based coronavirus test on March 31st for $99.
So, while the rollout of at-home diagnostic tests for the novel coronavirus would fill in testing gaps and mitigate the further spread of the virus by arming individuals with the knowledge that they should self-isolate if infected, the sparring between the FDA and health tech startups could put the brakes on testing wide swaths of the US public — and further delay efforts to restart the US economy in the process.