F.D.A. Clears First Home Saliva Test for Coronavirus

The Food and Drug Administration is permitting a Rutgers lab to start selling spit-collection kits to detect the coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it had granted emergency authorization for the first at-home saliva collection kit to test for the coronavirus.

In early May, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the first at-home saliva collection kit to test for the coronavirus. These test kits, which were developed by  Rutgers University laboratory, must be ordered by a physician. In a simplified description of how the testing process works, Dr. Andrew Brooks from the Rutgers lab that developed this test, explains how “a patient can open the kit, spit into the tube, put the cap back on and ship it back to our lab.” These spit tests have the potential to widen the audience for virus screening in addition to reducing the risk of spreading the infection to health care workers by bringing the tests to the sick at home.