No nasal swab? UC Berkeley's tries COVID spit test

Your spit may be the next step in fighting the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A study currently being conducted at the University of California, Berkeley is trying to determine whether a saliva test can detect and identify COVID-19 in aysmptomatic carriers.

Catalan Reardon, a doctoral candidate in political science at the university, has taken the coronavirus test in many different forms in the past and found this one to be pain free compared to the others.

"The time is the same but for me at least the nasal swab was definitely more uncomfortable. The mouth swab was more uncomfortable for me. I ended up gagging and hitting the nurse who was giving me the test. So I think compared to the nasal and the mouth, this was much easier, less invasive for sure."

But will it work as good as the up-your-nose tests?

So far there are three other saliva tests that have earned FDA approval through the Emergency Use Authorization and the university hopes to be the fourth, says UC Berkeley Professor Jennifer Doudna.

"We're currently doing work to identify first of all how much viral shedding happens in saliva compared to in the nose. And then to figure out whether the actual saliva test that we're running is as sensitive as to what we can detect when we're using nasal swabs."

The tests are pretty simple - university students, staff or faculty sign up online.. show up at the campus testing side, (mask and social distancing required), sign in with a QR code which makes keeping track of the results easier, then comes a dash of hand sanitizer before touching anything... and then the spitting begins.

Sometimes it takes a few tries because the test needs up to one millimeter of saliva.

Before handing the test-tube over, the participant cleans it with sanitizer, gets it scanned and then hands it over to a waiting volunteer sitting behind a plastic shower curtain.

The samples are then sent to the COVID-19 lab at the university's Innovative Genomics Institute for testing.

No swabs up the nose. No medical professionals needed. No hassle.

Removing any prohibitive costs and making the tests easier are at the center of the University's efforts.

"I think as we've seen, there's a critical unmet need currently both locally in the Bay Area of California as well as nationally for increased testing. I'm a big proponent of scientists stepping up and using their expertise to meet this incredible need. We hope to continue to expand our efforts and of course a big goal that we have is to help meet the needs of the campus, as the campus reopens in the fall."

1,500 people so far have taken the UCBerkeley spit test - but many more are needed before it gets the FDA stamp of approval, in hopes of becoming a do-it-yourself at-home testing kit.

But for those actually feeling sick this test won't be for you...please, go see a doctor.