A Covid Test as Easy as Breathing

Scientists have been dreaming of disease-detecting breathalyzers for years. Has the time for the technology finally come?

In May, musicians from dozens of countries descended on Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for the Eurovision Song Contest. Over the course of the competition, the performers — clad in sequined dresses, ornate crowns or, in one case, an enormous pair of angel wings — belted and battled it out for their chance at the title. But before they were even allowed onstage, they had to pass another test: a breath test. When they arrived at the venue, the musicians were asked to exhale into a water-bottle-sized device called the SpiroNose, which analyzed the chemical compounds in their breath to detect signatures of a coronavirus infection. If the results came back negative, the performers were cleared to compete.