Israeli firm developing 'front line' 30-second COVID-19 breath test

An Israeli company is developing a "front line" COVID-19 breathalyser test that gives results in 30 seconds, amid protests in the country regarding the government's handling of the pandemic.

NanoScent, the firm making the test kits, said an extensive trial in Israel for the presence of live virus delivered results with 85 percent accuracy, and the product could receive regulatory approval within months.

The firm has been operating for several years, specialising in rapid recognition technology, including for medical purposes.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Also see|Israel: Protests soar over government's inadequate coronavirus response and corruption

According to Oren Gavriely, the company's Chief executive officer, the breathalyser would not replace lab tests, but was a mass screening tool that could help people gain "the confidence to go back and act as normal".

Gavriely said that while visiting the United States in January, he sensed his firm's expertise may be needed to help confront the novel virus circulating in Asia that appeared to be spreading to the West.

"We said we'll invest one week into it and see what's happening, and this one week never stopped," he said.

The test begins with a few short questions about COVID-19 exposure and symptoms, displayed on the phone of the person administering the procedure.

Test subjects then inhale through the nose, hold their breath, close one nostril and exhale through the other, pushing breath through a handheld tube into a small bag called the "Air Trap".

The tube is then plugged into the "Scent Reader", a small rectangular device that whirrs softly as it sucks the air out of the bag. Within seconds the results appear on the phone.

Researchers at NanoScent's headquarters in northern Israel are refining the virus recognition technology, which relies on "odours and the pattern of odours", Gavriely said.

After analysing the breath of roughly 1,000 Israeli COVID-19 patients, the firm was able to identify detectable smells associated with the virus, the chief executive added.

The country of nine million people has been recording more than 1,000 new cases per day in recent weeks, forcing new restrictions and public anger over the purportedly mismanaged re-opening.