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COVID-19 airport tests to be changed to deep-throat saliva tests

ROC Central News Agency

08/30/2020 06:30 PM

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Travelers arriving at airports in Taiwan who have to be tested for COVID-19 will be given deep-throat saliva tests instead of throat swab tests starting Sept. 1, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Sunday.

The change will make the testing process less uncomfortable and reduce the burden of health care professionals, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.

Unlike throat swab tests, where medical workers rub a cotton swab inside a person's throat to collect samples, deep-throat saliva tests can be conducted by the person being tested simply by spitting into a bottle, Chuang said.

The deep-throat saliva test has been widely adapted in Japan and Hong Kong, and recent studies have shown that the two tests have similar sensitivities, Chuang said.

In a trial run, incoming passengers to Taiwan who had to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival were tested using both methods from July 2 to Aug. 24, Chuang said.

Of the 1,226 people tested, 12 tested positive in both tests, eight tested positive in the deep-throat saliva test but not the throat swab test, and four tested positive in the throat swab test but not the deep-throat saliva test, according to Chuang.

In all 12 cases where only one of the two types of test was positive, the traveler was eventually found to have COVID-19.

An analysis of the results showed that the two tests had a high degree of consistency, and a panel of experts concluded that deep-throat saliva tests would still be accurate while allowing medical workers to focus on other matters, Chuang said.

If travelers test negative for COVID-19 upon entry but continue to have symptoms of the disease during their 14-day quarantine, they will be tested again, Chuang said.

According to the CECC, people taking the deep-throat saliva test should start by wearing a mask and sanitizing their hands and then clear their throats, keep the saliva in their mouths for one minute, take off their masks, and spit the saliva into the collection bottle.

Once that is done, the user should clean the surface of the bottle with tissue, and then hand it to quarantine personnel, the CECC guidelines said.

(By Chen Wei-ting and Chiang Yi-ching)

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