Sacred Heart University, in Fairfield, announced Friday that it will soon begin using a saliva-based COVID-19 test that was developed at Yale, as a way to expand testing for students and staff.
Beginning this week, the university will roll out the SalivaDirect test, which is a less invasive COVID-19 test that tests a patient’s saliva as opposed to requiring a swab to be inserted in a patient’s nasal canal.
SalivaDirect, which also offers a quicker turnaround time than more traditional coronavirus tests, was developed at the Yale School of Public Health. In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the testing method an emergency use authorization.