Forget Irritable Nasal Swab, When All You Need To Do Is Shout To Detect COVID-19

COVID tests are now being done by inserting a long cotton swab into the nose or throat, and the sensation is clearly irritating. The specimen taken out in the process is being tested for the virus. Also, for getting entry to many cities, states and countries, now RT-PCR tests are mandatory. However, a Dutch inventor has finally come with a quick alternative to all these. His invention can detect COVID-19 simply when a person shouts or sings. Van Wees, in collaboration with Marshal Evidence, has set up an airlocked booth beside an actual COVID-19 testing centre in Amsterdam. And it can detect COVID-19 via air droplets. Read on to know more.

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The Machine Detects COVID-19 From Air Droplets Released By Shouting

Dutch inventor Van Wees has come up with a COVID-19 testing booth that can detect the presence of virus via air droplets. He has set up an airlocked cabin inside which the person simply needs to sing or shout. When a person screams or sings, a bunch of air droplets are released in the air. A nanometre-scale sizing device identifies the virus in the droplets. The entire process takes around three minutes. According to a Business Today report, Van Wees told Reuters, “If you have coronavirus and are infectious and yelling and screaming you are spreading tens of thousands of particles which contain coronavirus.” Meanwhile, if you’ve got the COVID vaccine, you can holiday in Poland by skipping quarantine. 

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The Device Can Be Useful At Airports, Offices, Schools And Concerts

Wees considers this machine as a potentially useful screening device at airports, schools, offices and concerts. This will ensure no COVID-19 positive individual enters the premises. Wees envisions this process to be a swifter and easier alternative to detect the virus. According to an Independent report, Soraya Assoud, who needed a negative COVID-19 proof for a trip to Spain, said “It’s always very nice to scream, when nobody can hear you though.” She added, “I think it’s a good way of meditation as well … it’s fun!”

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Geert Westerhuis, a spokesperson of the Netherlands’ National Institute for Health, said that the institution is looking for several testing methods that are fast, functioning and can generate highly accurate results. Speaking about Wees’s invention, he said, “How this apparatus works – we can’t estimate it because we know too little about it.” Wees is now working to collect more evidence for his strategy. On that note, here’s how Dubai uses technology to fight COVID-19: