HSA Approves COVID-19 Saliva Testing Kit; Will be Used in Changi Airport

Last Updated on 2020-12-13 , 6:36 pm

For many, getting a nasal or throat swab is nothing short of an utter nightmare, though it’s not so much of the potential consequences as it is of the process itself.

After all, getting penetrated in the nose or throat doesn’t exactly sound like fun.

As the group chief executive of Advanced MedTech Holdings, Abel Ang, so aptly puts it: “No patient wants to have a swab poked up their nose or the back of their throat.”

However, it was considered a mandatory notion, and as such was something many brave souls thought had to be done.

For the sake of the greater good, they probably thought.

HSA Approves COVID-19 Saliva Testing Kit; Will be Used in Changi Airport

Well thankfully, at long last, it appears that we’ve an alternative.

Nasal swabs will no longer be the lone option in the whole truth-seeking journey.

Saliva samples, it seems, have also joined the testing party.

And the Resolute 2.0 kit is the force responsible for the inclusion of the new ‘party member’.

The testing kit was created by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s (A*Star) Diagnostics Development (DxD) Hub and DSO National Laboratories in July.

To perform the test, patients have to spit deep-dwelling saliva into a specimen bottle.

Unlike other conventional methods, they do not require additional assistance from medical professionals or swabbers.

As such, not only does it save on expenses and manpower, patients and medical personnel alike will be able to safeguard themselves from any potential exposure to the virus.

The kit also lacks a need for sample processing, and can be done in an hour. In comparison, a traditional PCR test takes roughly 2 and a half hours or longer to generate results.

As a Wise Old Man would put it: It’s a win-win situation.

Opening Date

On Thursday (10 December 2020), the company announced that the first Singaporean Covid-19 saliva test has been given the green light by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

At the current moment, the Resolute 2.0 kit is being utilised in places such as ParkwayHealth Laboratory, Innovative Diagnostics labs and Raffles Medical Group.

Changi Airport’s new Covid-19 testing lab will also be using the test kit. According to the news report, the lab is expected to open in the first quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, Advanced MedTech Holdings is working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to proffer saliva testing here.

A ‘Catch’?

Despite all the perks that the test brings, it should be noted that the saliva samples would not be as easily procurable as one might initially think.

According to DxD Hub’s vice-president Dr Weng Ruifen, saliva samples would have to be taken from extracted from deep within the throat.

Drool around the mouth is not the same, and as such cannot be used.

So if you’ve difficulty gurgling saliva from the back of your throat…

You might have to stick to the conventional methods instead.

Featured Image: advancedcovidtest.com