The Government is set to use a 'gargle-and-spit' test for Covid-19 as part of Matt Hancock's pledge to test 4.5 million people per day. The Department of Health and Social Care last week allowed companies to put forward ideas to make 'circa 3.0 million saliva collection kits per day'. The simple saliva test - involving spitting into a tube - would allow scores of nervous patients to avoid uncomfortable swabs currently being used to identify the virus. The aim is to have the firm able to do 500,000 spit tests a week. The throat and nose could also have lingering amounts of the RNA virus - which is less likely to be picked up in a saliva test.

Source: Daily Mail September 27, 2020 11:34 UTC