Rapid COVID breath test approved by Singapore

• NUS Professor Freddy Boey, who led the university team working with Breathonix noted in the statement: "The pandemic is likely to go on for several years. Mass, repeated testing has to be widely adopted as a key public health strategy to support the safe reopening of economies."

The big picture: Researchers conducted three clinical trials of the BreFence Go COVID-19 breath test system from June 2020 to April this year.

• These were held at at Singapore's National Centre for Infectious Diseases, the country's Changi Airport and also in Dubai in collaboration with United Arab Emirates scientists.
• The breathalyzer "achieved a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 95% in one early Singapore-based pilot study that involved 180 patients," Bloomberg notes.

How it works: The breath test was developed from Breathonix's cancer detection technology and works much like a breathalyzer that can detect alcohol.

• Breathonix CEO Jia Zhunan, an NUS graduate, said in the statement the breath test is non-invasive.
• "Users only need to breathe out normally into the disposable mouthpiece provided, so there will not be any discomfort," Jia said. "Cross-contamination is unlikely as the disposable mouthpiece has a one-way valve and a saliva trap to prevent inhalation or saliva from entering the machine."

What's next: The manufacturers are working with the Singapore Ministry of Health to run a "deployment trial" of their technology at a land checkpoint for incoming travelers.