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Just Breathe

The Netherlands is to begin offering a rapid breath-test for SARS-CoV-2, Reuters reports.

The SpiroNose test from the Dutch health tech company Breathomix is akin to a breath alcohol test, Fox News adds. The NL Times reports the test can determine with 70 percent reliability that someone does not have SARS-CoV-2 within a few minutes. Positive test results, Reuters notes, need to be confirmed with a PCR test. The Dutch health service has ordered 1,800 machines to be placed in testing facilities, it adds.

According to the NL Times, SpiroNose has been tested at one municipal health center in Amsterdam and will be rolled out at three other sites. It adds that the city says that about 600 tests a day can now be performed in Amsterdam and that will rise to more than 2,500 breath tests a day.

Reuters notes that Breathomix was originally developing the technology to spot asthma or lung cancer, and has adapted and tested the approach on thousands of COVID-19 cases. It adds that certain factors like alcohol and smoke interfere with the test.

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