Coming soon: Use of saliva for Covid-19 testing

Kenya Morans basketball team official testing for COVID-19 during the unveiling of the team at Nyayo National Stadium. November 7, 2020. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The first picture that probably comes to mind when you hear of a coronavirus test is a special 6-inch cotton swab being inserted in your nostrils or throat through your mouth.

Though painless, the process is especially uncomfortable and the medic needs at least 15 seconds to scan through each nostril opening before they are satisfied that they have enough sample for testing. This is called a viral test.

While the swab test tells only if one has the virus in the body at the moment, blood samples have been used to determine whether you have ever been infected with coronavirus and had no symptoms showing. This is called an antibody test. It helps researchers know how widespread the disease is in a specific area.