University of Illinois COVID-19 saliva test approved for use as 2,295 new cases reported
A quick-result COVID-19 saliva test developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been granted emergency authorization and could help reduce the spread of the disease when implemented.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the test a "game changer" during a news conference Wednesday announcing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision to allow the test to be put into wider use.
Unlike most nasal swab tests being used to detect COVID-19 infections, university officials and researchers noted the new test is cheaper and provides quicker results.
"Fast testing. Fast results. Isolating people faster. All those things this test allows for have an enormously positive effect," Pritzker said.
The announcement came on the same day the state recorded its highest single-day number of test results to date with 50,299. Health officials announced those tests results yielded 2,295 new cases. They also reported 25 more Illinois residents have died from the disease.
That brings the state's death toll to 7,806 and 211,889 total cases statewide since the outbreak began.
With the addition of Wednesday's test results, the state's seven-day rolling average positivity rate is now 4.4%. A month ago that rate was 2.9%. The state is also averaging 1,899 new cases a day over the past week, the most since late May, according to state records.
Illinois has now conducted 3,489,571 COVID-19 tests, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The IDPH does not provide details about how long ago the tests were taken. Some results are often from tests taken more than week ago, patients have complained.
Dr. Martin Burke, a chemistry professor and lead researcher on the University of Illinois' saliva test project, said the new test can provide results within three to six hours of being administered. The quick turnaround will help keep asymptomatic carriers from unwittingly spreading the disease as they await results.
Burke said the tests were used throughout July on campus staff members and students and helped reduce the positivity rate on the Urbana campus from 1.5% at the beginning of the month to 0.2% by the end.
However, Burke was quick to note the test is not a "silver bullet" that will stop the spread of the disease.
The state is working with the university researchers to expand test availability, particularly for schools. Pritzker suggested it would take months to "scale up" the availability of the test for statewide use.
"But this really going to make a difference," he said.
Burke estimated that the test would cost no more than $10 per person when made widely available.