Israel develops fast saliva test for COVID-19

Israel's largest hospital says it has developed a coronavirus test which takes less than a second to deliver a result.

Patients rinse their mouth with saline wash and spit into a vial.

It is then examined by a device which shines light and analyses the reaction of the sample.

An algorithm then determines whether the reaction is consistent with COVID-19.

The team at the Sheba Medical Centre, near Tel Aviv, said hundreds of patients were tested in an initial clinical trial.

And the new technique had a 95 per cent success rate.

Eli Schwartz is from the Centre for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases at the center.

"So far, we have also very promising results in this new method which will be much more convenient and much more cheaper for all the governments who are dealing with the disease."

The company which the Sheba Medical Centre partnered with to develop the device said they're in the process of getting regulatory approval.

Each test costs 25 cents and it expects the device will eventually cost less than 200 dollars.